FREE-BLOWN PET PREFORMS CHARACTERIZE BLOWN BOTTLES.

In the wake of polyethylene terephthalate's (PET) emergence as the dominant resin for 2-liter plastic carbonated-beverage bottles, PET producers have sought to develop new shapes and sizes in order to expand into new markets. A method has now been devised to predict the optimal design of a preform without making multiple preform molds. The concept is to develop standard correlations between preforms and blown bottles and then to design preforms from proposed bottle designs.