The work describes an approach to simulation of a blow molding process. The development originated from the need to reduce the amount of experimentation through a screening of processing conditions and preform configurations. The simulation uses a standard finite element software capable of handling large deformations and an interaction with rigid surfaces, which are encountered in blow molding. The developed constitutive equation for a general purpose polystyrene in the rubbery state was incorporated into the model. Temperature and rate dependencies, typical for plastic materials, are accounted for in this model. The application of the developed model for analysis of the preform's deformations is illustrated here on a number of examples.

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