Formability of paper-based materials

Paper and paperboard are recyclable, biodegradable, renewable, and sustainable materials. This makes paper to be superior over the most of the plastic-based packaging materials. However, paper packaging appears in rather simple geometrical forms, while plastics can be formed to a great variety of different shapes. Formability is a complex mechanical property that determines the ease of forming of a material. Improvement of the formability is the key to unlock the way to production of 3D-shapes from paper. This work overviews various 3D-forming processes such as deep-drawing, vacuum-forming, and thermoforming, as well as the requirements for the successful forming that depends on the material and process i.e. formability