FUNDAMENTALS OF PET STRETCH BLOW MOLDED CONTAINERS
Robert J. Caldicott, DevTech Labs, Inc.
Abstract
For centuries there
s been a need for inexpensive,
high performance reseal able containers to package food,
personal care and other products. Limitations associated
with natural materials has led to the exploration and
application of synthetics to make containers. Many bottle
grade plastic homopolymers, copolymers and blends have
surfaced from these efforts. Among others are: PP, PE,
PS, PVC, PAN, PET and PEN based polymers. In
particular, biaxially oriented PET, has won great
acceptance from consumers. More than two decades since
the first stretch blow molded PET container was made,
there
s a far better understanding of the particulars
involved in successful production of high quality PET
containers.
Introduction
Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) stretch blow
molded containers display excellent performance at
commercially feasible costs. The fundamental science
behind these containers has evolved significantly since its
birth in the early 1970's.
Bottle Grade PET Material
PET is a linear, crystalline polyester with repeat units
comprised of a phenylene ring and two ester groups,
Figure 1. Many PET bottle grade resins on the market are
copolymers, since two different phenylene ring structures
are noted, para and iso. With proper design and
processing, PET stretch blow molded containers exhibit
excellent tensile and impact strength, chemical resistance,
clarity, process ability, color ability and reasonable
thermal stability. The regularity in structure and
symmetry of the rigid para phenylene ring in the main
chain favors crystallinity, which in part is responsible for
the good physical properties and chemical resistance. The
infrequent iso phenylene rings actually add a slight
counter effect, by decreasing regularity, such that
crystallization and rigidity are not overbearing. Biaxial
orientation of the ethylene units, achieved through the
stretch blow process, also contribute to the rigid nature.
Additionally, biaxial orientation improves clarity by
breaking up large crystal structures into units smaller than
the wavelength of visible light (400 -750 nm). Depending
upon the product being packaged, copolymerizing,
blending, coinjecting or use of additives, may be
necessary to improve the barrier to permeables such as
UV rays, O2 and CO2.
Container Performance Requirements
All PET containers have their own set of
requirements to meet, whether they are on the basis of
aesthetics, functionality, physical performance, chemical
performance or other. Some are implied and some are
formal specifications by public legislation, end users,
converters or bottlers, while others are only guidelines by
the same. Containers may be categorized by their
physical performance requirements. Carbonated beverage
bottles, low pressure/temperature bottles (~<80 C) and
heat set containers (~>80 C) are among the most
prominent, Figure 2. Following are lists of some of the
most noteworthy performance requirements for each of
the container categories. Carbonated beverage: burst
pressure, shelf life, stress cracking, drop impact strength,
axial load, minimum wall thickness, fill point drop and
thermal stability. Low pressure/temperature: axial load,
thermal stability, low pressure/vacuum stability, side load
deflection, minimum wall thickness and shelf life. Heat
set: thermal stability, clarity, shelf life, axial load,
minimum wall thickness, and low pressure/vacuum
stability.
Design of Carbonated Beverage Bottles
Successful commercial production of PET containers
starts with a well engineered container design, which
accommodates market preference, affords good process
ability and performs well from cradle to grave, all within a
feasible budget.
All else being equal, a unique proprietary shape is
more appealing than a Plain Jane stock shape. However,
in reality all else is not equal, and thus unique shapes
compromise other interests of the consumer or
manufacturer. They contain variable contours which may
evoke geometric yielding under lower carbonation levels
and lower external forces. Unique shapes may also
contain cross sections that stray from circular nature,
which inherently bring about additional surface area. For
instance, a bottle with square cross section has 1.128
times the surface area of a bottle with circular cross
section, assuming equal volume and height. The
introduction of additional surface area, without an
increase in bottle mass, results in lower wall thickness per
unit volume ultimately inducing carbonation loss. More
over, undesirable material distribution and nonuniform
orientation are a consequence of complicating the stretch
blow process. This just magnifies the ill effect on
physical properties.
 Smaller size bottles also have greater surface area per
volume. This is readily apparent when considering that
the ratio of surface area to volume is proportional to 4/D
for cylindrical bottles of diameter D. Further, extra detail,
like logos, ribbing, flutes, and deep stipple, also increases
the ratio.
Design for manufacture and handling is fundamental
for beverage bottles, due to the shear volume of containers
per year (> 25 billion of all sizes in USA last year).
Undercuts, which prevent proper bottle ejection, must be
avoided at all time. Some undercuts are always a
problem, while others are dependent upon the motion
involved with opening the blow mold and ejecting the
bottle. If undercuts associated with mold motion are
observed, consider alternative location of parting lines.
Sudden changes in geometry may inherently be structural
flaws with regard to static or dynamic forces, such as
those from bottle stacking, conveying, filling, carbonation,
or the like. If they aren
t inherent flaws, they still may
ultimately prove to be the cause of physical demise, due to
their ill effect on the blow process. Abrupt changes in
bottle geometry cannot easily be accounted for in preform
design, which effectively means a change in stretch ratios.
Consider a preform blown into a bottle having a fairly
sudden diameter change. As the preform is stretched
axially and radially, it first contacts the cold (~10 C) mold
wall at the narrow diameter. Upon contact, the local
polymer immediately loses thermal energy, decreasing
free volume and increasing viscosity. Molecular flow
halts, restricting some material from reaching the large
diameter. Very fine detail such as logos, ribbing, textures
and the like are also a concern since they are quite
difficult to form. As the molecules are stretched for high
orientation, the tension makes it arduous to flow into tight
crevices that make up these features. Wider and well
vented features will form easier, but generally also deform
more readily under pressures of carbonation. Not only do
complex geometries and detail make the stretch blow
molding more difficult, but the mold making and bottle
handling as well. An increased cost of blow molds,
downstream equipment and handling all arise from new
unique bottle shapes. These primary negatives, along with
many secondary negatives, should be balanced with the
benefits of the attractive distinction that a new proprietary
shape offers.
Another area of design requiring a balancing act is
that of the base. Since wall thickness is so important to
shelf life, there
s a great desire to put more material into
the panel and shoulder areas. For economic reasons, the
preferred method is to redistribute material from the base,
rather than increase the overall bottle mass. Doing this
without compromising the performance and process
ability of the base is certainly one of the areas of greatest
research today. Clouding the issue are existing
discrepancies in testing procedures for base weights,
burst, thermal stability and shelf life.
Figure 3 depicts some of the finish nomenclature for a
typical two step plastic carbonated beverage bottle. The
size of a finish is based on the thread major diameter, T.
E corresponds to the thread root diameter and I is the
widest inside diameter of the preform. The maximum
bottle diameter should not exceed I by more than ~6
times, as over stretching may occur. The vents are
intended to harmlessly release pressure from the bottle as
the closure is loosened but not fully disengaged from the
finish threads. The neck support ring itself is very useful
on preforms for: ejection, unscrambling, conveyance, and
centering within the blow mold; and on bottles for:
conveyance, filling, capping and testing bottles. The
commonality of these finish traits makes many change
parts generic across the industry.
Product development costs are significantly higher
for unique compared to generic bottles but certain tools
have helped narrow the difference. 3D CAD solids and
surfaces software are used to create the complex
geometries, with mass properties and tool paths just a few
clicks away. User friendly modeling software is
sometimes employed to determine theoretical failure
points in physical performance and even attain
recommended changes in geometry. Once a design is
complete, the file may be downloaded to a number of
rapid prototyping systems for full scale models made of
various materials other than biaxially oriented PET.
Although these tools help expedite the design stage,
there
s still a great need to produce and test biaxially
oriented PET prototypes. This is because, unlike many
other materials, the optimum process and resultant
properties of stretch blow molded PET bottles is so
difficult to precisely predict or model. Slight variation in
any of the processes from resin production to bottle
production may alter molecular weight, degree of
orientation, material distribution or quantity and size of
crystal structures at any point within the finished bottle.
Design of Low Pressure/Temperature Bottles
The low pressure, low temperature category of
containers accounts for the widest variety of products such
as still waters, sauces, edible oils, dressings, personal care
and more. The pressure levels and exposure temperatures
are quite low for these products, which eliminates the
need for petaloid bases, vacuum panels/bases or heat
setting. Low positive pressure often originates from swell
of product or head space under elevated ambient
temperatures or from purging O2 in the head sapce with
nitrogen before capping. Conversely, the vacuum appears
from a shrink in product volume with low ambient
temperatures, the product absorbing O2 from the head
space or even from product cool down which formerly
forced container expansion at elevated temperatures.
Usually the distortion forces associated with these
phenomenon can be handled sufficiently with ribs. Ribs
act as U channels by distributing the compressive and
tensile components of bending forces amongst greater
cross sectional area. This is particularly useful in
champagne style bases and chimes, or in side walls which
would otherwise tend to buckle from internal vacuum or
external forces.
Design of Heat Set Bottles
Many products require either hot filling, retort,
pasteurizing, aseptic processing or preservatives to reduce
the initial level of bacteria for greater shelf life. In this
area, demand on the container is very specific to all the
variables involved with filling and post filling operations.
At present, flood fill hot filling is most common. Upon
hot filling, thermal energy relieves stresses yielding a loss
in volume and a pressurized container. Accordingly, the
finish E wall should be thick (~> 2.5 mm) or
crystallized, and the base should have sufficient geometric
reinforcement. As the product cools, it shrinks in volume,
resulting in a pressure loss inside the container. Vacuum
panels beneath the label and a diaphragm like base are
necessary to dismiss the pressure loss, while a
circumferential rib above the label area helps maintain the
bottle cross section.
Preform Design for Carbonated Bottles
Once the container design is complete, the preform is
derived around it. The preform dictates ultimate degree of
orientation, crystallinity and wall thickness of the final
container. The pressure of carbonation imposes axial and
hoop stresses proportional to the radius of the bottle and
inversely proportional to the wall thickness. If not
countered with sufficient strength, these stresses will
induce initial geometric yielding, then creep and
ultimately possibly burst. Because, the sum of the parts,
equal the whole, material properties may often be
substituted for wall thickness. Accordingly, optimum
orientation and material distribution are necessary to
counter the forces with minimum preform mass. Cost
savings are glaring when considering that a reduction from
25 to 24 grams amounts to free material for every 25 th
bottle made. The true savings are tremendous since the
resin accounts for ~70% of the bottle cost. Figure 4
depicts a carbonated soft drink preform and bottle with
relevant stress and stretch ratio relations.
The I dimension of the finish corresponds to the
widest inside width of the preform, hence sets limits on
the diameter of the stretch rod and bottle. Insufficient
clearance between the stretch rod and preform will allow
the preform side wall to neck in and contact the rod during
axial stretching, ultimately restricting molecular flow.
Taper 1, just below the neck support ring, should have an
OD at least .5 mm less than that of the bottle and a length
sufficient to form the neck of the bottle. The second taper
forms the shoulder of the bottle and should provide a
gradual transition from taper 1 to the main body of the
preform. The body will then encompass the region
starting just above the bottle
s widest diameter down to a
portion of the base underside. The end cap completes the
bottle by forming the center pushup region. Since, it
s
difficult to stretch the end cap, it
s initial thickness should
be less than that of the lower body yet sufficient to prevent
burst through the bottle pushup. To avoid excessive shear
during injection molding, the wall thickness at any point
typically should not be less than .75% of any point further
along the flow path. Wall thickness should be constrained
such that the injection mold cooling or stretch blow reheat
times are not excessive. For ejection purposes during
injection molding, most of the core should maintain a
draft >= 11 minutes. The cavity draft is less important,
since the material tends to shrink away during curing.
Finally, nesting is where the lower body of one preform
fits into the finish I of another and should be avoided
whenever possible.
Preform Design for Low Pressure/Temperature
Bottles
The same general rules apply for carbonated and non
carbonated preforms with a few exceptions. Bottles used
in low pressure applications are not forced to creep and
therefore don
t require very high orientation. However,
orientation brings rigidity, which is advantageous for
gripping, pouring, top load, stability and other reasons.
The bottle base designs are often shallow champagne style
pushups which exhibit non uniform contact if the chime is
not formed properly or if excessive material promotes
post blow mold shrinkage. Accordingly, many of these
preforms have limited gate thicknesses of <2.5 mm. Oval
bottles with large aspect ratios, such as dressings, require
adequate clearance between the preform and the narrow
side of the bottle. Insufficient clearance may result in
premature contact with the narrow side, effectively
robbing material from the diagonal corners. This same
effect is inherent to pinch grip designs, as seen in some
edible oils; and goose necks, as seen in liquor bottles.
Preform Design for High Temperature Containers
Preforms used in bottles exposed to high
temperatures generally have more mass per container
volume than those which are not. Consequently, the walls
tend to be thick and orientation is of less importance. End
caps of non carbonated hot fill containers lend themselves
to thick pushups with thinner contact regions required for
the diaphragm style base. Preforms for carbonated high
temperature containers are trickier, for example
pasteurized beer. The carbonation calls for high
orientation, while the elevated temperatures demand
significant crystallinity (~30%). Further, the champagne
style base requires a thick contact region, hence, these
preforms often contain a patented ring of material near the
end cap.
Preform Molding
There are two basic methods to produce stretch blow
molded containers: One and Two Step. One Step consists
of injection molding PET into a preform above its melt
temperature (~267 C), then allowing the preform to cool
down near it
s stretch blowing temperature (~100 C)
where it
s thermally conditioned prior to being stretch
blown into a container. Two Step, as implied, involves
two totally separate steps and machines. First the preform
is injected and fully cured below its glass transition
temperature (~85 C) to ambient temperature. After
equilibration (~12 hours) the preform is put into a stretch
blow molder for reheating and stretch blowing into a
container.
Preform production starts with proper drying of the
hygroscopic PET resin. Presence of moisture during the
plasticating stage will cause hydrolysis of the ester linkage
and thus IV degradation. Removal of moisture is
accomplished by forced convection using hot dry air.
Sufficient drying is generally a function of time (~4
hours), temperature (~175 C), flow and relative humidity
(dew point ~ -40 C). During molding, the pseudoplastic
melt is injected directly into a hot runner manifold or first
into a ram pot for subsequent injection. Flow of the melt
to this point exhibits non-Newtonian laminar
characteristics with orientation near the side walls and
randomness in the center. As the melt eventually passes
through the end cap gate of the preform tooling, the
laminar flow takes on characteristics of fountain flow.
After the mold is filled, a steady pack pressure is applied
to add more material as free volume is lost during curing.
Final preform quality is judged by many things, most
notably: color, concentricity, visuals, uniform and
symmetric stress patterns. Some other things to watch for
include: moisture waves, gas bubbles, gate strings, gate
crystallinity, splay, crystalline haziness, sinks, flash,
shorts, AA generation, and IV loss. Cross polarized light
is commonly used to quickly detect uniformity of the
birefringence within the parts.
Stretch Blow Molding
Stretch blow molding begins with reheating the
preform to ~15 C above its Tg. The primary mode of heat
transfer is radiation from the quartz lamps while
convection from surrounding air and conduction within
the preform itself also play a role. Since the convection is
only taking place on the surface of the preform, its
contribution is undesirable. For this reason, the hot air is
continuously drawn or blown away. Conditioning for
maximum orientation may improve modulus as much as
18 fold that of non oriented. Insufficient thermal energy
can lead to degradation of the material by over tensioning
and breaking bonds during stretching. This also leads to
loss of clarity known as pearlescense. On the other hand,
excessive energy will increase free volume inducing large
molecular segments to move in Brownian motion rather
than stretching and orienting. The increased thermal
energy permits crystals to grow in number and size. Lack
of orientation allows the crystals to remain causing
crystalline opacity. Once in the mold, the stretch rod
extends contacting the preform end cap, typically at a rate
of 1 m/s. At his point, the low pressure air (~1 MPa)
engages, expanding the preform radially as the rod
continues to stretch it axially toward the base. The
generally thinner and warmer taper region of the preform
yields the most at first, allowing formation of the bottle
upper portion. Once the rod completes its total stroke, the
high pressure air (~4 MPa) engages forcing the parison
against the cold (~10 C) mold walls. Finally the rod
retracts, air is de-energized and exhausted, mold opens,
bottle ejects and the next preform is loaded. Typical CSD
bottles have a cycle time of ~3.6 seconds.
The blow process is specific to the container and
preform design and may vary widely from converter to
converter. Bottles with goose necks require significant
axial stretch prior to substantial radial stretch. Those with
large aspect ratios may be produced using preferential
heating, where the preform is heated differently around its
circumference to account for the varying stretch ratios.
Heat set containers differ from others in that the preform
temperature is brought ~15 C warmer and the mold is hot
(~110 C), both of which promote the nucleation and
growth of high temperature stable crystal sites
(spherulites). The crystals also lock in orientation, which
prevents molecules from re randomizing to higher states
of entropy during hot filling or pasteurizing.
Due to the rate at which bottles are produced (as
many as 50,000/hr), it
s very important to conduct quality
assurance testing on a regular basis. Good manufacturing
practices include statistical process control charting of
critical machine and bottle parameters.
Conclusion
The increased demand for biaxially oriented PET in
packaging food, personal care, and other items has led to
improvements in all areas of container production, from
design to stretch blow molding and beyond. Now, with
deep roots in packaging and a greater understanding of
PET, new frontiers lie ahead. This includes: wide mouth
jars, beer and high barrier containers. The use of
innovative production techniques and barrier enhancers
will provide avenues toward these ends.
 Bibliography George Rollend, DevTech Labs, Inc.

Key Word
Deanin, Rudolph D, Ph.D., Polymer Structure, Properties
and Applications, 1972 Preform
Sperling, L. H., Introduction to Physical Polymer Crystallinity
Science, 1992
Orientation
Packaging Digest, September 1997
Properties
Martin Beck, DevTech Labs, Inc.