Moldflow

Plastics Advisers
Changing the way plastics parts
and molds are designed

Choice Designs, Inc

June 25, 2004

Problem
Plastics part design done in isolation
Plastics parts not designed for
manufacturabilty
Many CAE Products

Not developed for part designers

Difficult for designers to learn and use
Tend to be feature-based, not solution-based
Do not optimize design process

Simulation-driven design not achieved

Introducing- The Plastics Advisers

Moldflow Part Adviser
For Part Designers

Moldflow Mold Adviser

For Mold Designers

PART DESIGNER

High Impact Simulation

Part Design
Parameters

Consider

MOLD DESIGNER

MATERIAL
SUPPLIER

MOLDER

Communicate

Manufacturing
Constraints

Iterate

Moldflow Plastics Advisers

Answer basic plastics manufacturing
questions:

Will the part fill?

Where are the weld lines & air traps?
Which material and gate location?
Is the runner system balanced?
How to size geometry for optimal
manufacturability?

Unique Desktop Simulation

Specifically focused on the design
market
CAD integrated
Solids-based
Extreme ease-of-use
Robust solution process
Practical design advice
Design optimization

Industry Best CAD Integration

Pro/Plastic Adviser embedded solution

inside Pro/E and most major CAD solutions

3D Solids Based

No model translation!
No meshing!
No mid-planing!
No model
clean-up!

Extreme Ease of Use

Intuitive User Interface

Analysis Assistant
Results Adviser
3D model manipulation
Tool tips &
on-line tutorials
Comprehensive help
system
Local language support

Virtual
Plastics
Manufacturing
Experience

Robust Solution Process

Breakthrough Technology
Unique Dual Domain finite element analysis solution
US Patent No. 6,096,088

Non-Newtonian, non-isothermal solver

Simulates true plastics behavior

Delivers results in a fraction of the time

Unique On-Line Advice

Adviser Assistant for Analysis Setup
Dynamic Adviser - Context sensitive
and model based results help
Comprehensive help system

Unique On-Line Design Guide

Provides practical advice considering
plastics manufacturing constraints
How to better control plastics behavior
using proper design techniques

Molding Parameters
Complete Moldflow materials database.
More than 7,500 plastics materials.

Molding conditions can be

automatically determined.
Uses the material suppliers recommended
mold and melt temperature.
Automatically identifies an injection time that
minimizes the pressure to fill the component
and maintain an acceptable flow front
temperature.

Molding Parameters

Best Gate Location Analysis

Analyzes various locations on the
model for its suitability as an injection
point.
The most suitable areas are rated as
best, and the least suitable areas of the
model are rated as worst.

Best Gate Location Analysis

Process Condition Optimization

Based on part geometry, material,
injection location, and user
requirements for surface gloss:
Indicates the optimum processing
conditions.
Indicates the effects of variation from
optimum process conditions.

Process Condition Optimization

Confidence of Fill
Indicates the probability of a region
within the cavity filling with plastic.
Derived from pressure and temperature.
Simple color-coded display.
Green
Yellow
Red

will definitely fill.

may be difficult to fill or may have
quality problems.
will be difficult to fill or will have quality
problems.

Detailed advice from the Results

Adviser.

Confidence of Fill

Quality Prediction
Predicts expected quality of the part's
surface appearance and mechanical
properties.
Derived from pressure, temperature, shear
rate, shear stress and cooling time results.
Simple color-coded display
Green
Yellow

will have high quality.

may have quality problems.

Red

will have quality problems.

Detailed advice from the Results

Adviser.

Quality Prediction

Cooling Quality
Identifies areas of heat concentration on
the model
Derived from surface temperature
variance and freeze time variance results
Simple color-coded display
Green
Yellow
Red

no cooling problems.
may have cooling problems.
will have cooling problems.

Detailed advice from the Results Adviser.

Cooling Quality

Sink Marks Estimate

Predicts the presence and location of
sink marks.
Provides a relative degree of severity of
depth as influenced by the material,
part geometry, position relative to the
injection location, and processing
conditions.

Sink Marks Estimate

Gate Design Tools

Automatic Gate Sizing
Calculates the best gate dimensions and
automatically updates the model with revised
dimensions

Gate Design Advice

Provides gate-specific design advice
Indicates if there is excessive shear stress,
shear rate or temperature rise in the gate
region
Indicates if the gate dimensions do not
conform to established gate design guidelines

Gate Design Tools

Before Gate Sizing

After Gate Sizing

Reduced Injection Pressure and Reduced Shear Rate

Skin Orientation
Plot showing the orientation of polymer
molecules and fibers (if any) on the skin
(surface) of the part at the end of filling
Can be used to determine part strength
Uniform orientation leads to better
surface quality
Available in both Part & Mold Adviser

Skin Orientation

Feed System Design

Feed system design and mold layout.
Single Cavity
Multi-Cavity
Family Mold

Automatic Runner Balance

To ensure that all cavities fill at the same time
and that the volume of the runner system is
minimized.

Feed System Design

Mold Design

Performance Adviser
An add-on module for Mold Adviser
Two key functions
Packing Analysis
Extends plastic filling analysis to calculate
volumetric shrinkage and identify optimal
packing conditions

Warpage Analysis
Indicates cause and potential for part warpage as
well as deflected shape

Packing Analysis
Packing Profile
Selected from
Specified Packing Pressure vs Time
% of Filling Pressure vs Time

Results include

Volumetric Shrinkage
% Frozen Layer
Average Temperature
Cooling Time
Grow From (multi-gated/multi-cavity/family molds)
Peak Clamp Force during Packing
Total Part Weight
End of Packing Time
Maximum Wall Shear Stress

Volumetric Shrinkage

Warpage Analysis
Indicates if part is likely to warp beyond
acceptable tolerances
Provides advice on cause of warpage
Provides advice on how to correct
warpage
Allow the user to reduce warpage by
changing processing conditions
changing material
changing part design

Part Deflection

Warpage Indicator
Warpage indicator

all effects
due to Cooling
due to Shrinkage
due to Orientation
for Fiber filled materials

Simple color-coded display

Green
Yellow
Red

less than 80% of nominal maximum deflection.

between 80% and 120% of nominal maximum
deflection.
more than 120% of nominal maximum
deflection.

Warpage Indicator

Cooling Circuit Adviser

An add-on module for Mold Adviser
Design & Evaluate cooling circuits to
achieve uniform cooling and minimize
cycle time
Automated wizard to create cooling
circuit layout
Option to read centerline cooling layout
from CAD IGES file

Cooling Circuit Design

Cooling Analysis Results

Part Surface Temperature

Average Temperature
Circuit Reynolds number
Circuit Coolant Temperature
Circuit Flow Rate
Circuit Pressure
Cooling Time

Surface Temperature

Cooling Circuit Temperature

Cost Adviser
Cost estimating tool directly embedded
in MPA 7.0
Estimate the four components of part
cost:

Material Cost
Mold Manufacturing Cost
Machine Operating Cost
Post-molding Cost

Internet Ready Reports

Automatic creation
and formatting of
HTML reports
Easily viewed with
any web browser
Highly customizable
Filling animations
and model rotations
can be included

Direct Link to Manufacturing

MPA output file
(*.a2x) can be
imported to
Moldflow
Manufacturing
Solutions
Automates the
setup, optimization,
and control of the
injection molding
process.

Moldflow Community Center

Get Answers

Talk to Moldflow

Discussion Group

Get Files

Report issues
Suggest Enhancements

Talk to MPA Users

Read Hints & Tips

Browse Known Bugs
Access/Search Moldflows Knowledge Zone
FAQs

Product Revisions
File Exchange Area

Get Trained

Access MPA training resources

The Plastics Advisers

Moldflow Part Adviser
For Part Designers

Call to schedule a Demo

Moldflow Mold Adviser

For Mold Designers

www.ezchoice.com
Sales@ezchoice.com
877-405-6770
Call or email for a demo today.

Call to schedule a Demo