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Finite Element Analysis
- Predict stresses and product deflections that result from external loads and temperatures
- Account for the effects of processing on mechanical properties of the part and the orthotropic (direction dependent) properties of injection molded components
- Evaluate whether a structural part, previously made from metal or other materials, can be successfully made from plastic
- Enable iterative optimization of part design to ensure the molding will meet final product strength and
stiffness specifications
- Eliminate the need to over-engineer parts, using unnecessary costly engineering materials and thicker wall sections to achieve structural requirements
Metal to Plastic Conversion
- Decrease cost
- Decrease weight
- Improve design
- Reduce secondary operations (e.g. machining)
- Better aesthetics
- Improved efficiency
- Structural strength improvement
 
Cooling Analysis
- Optimize part and mold designs to achieve uniform cooling with the minimum cycle time
- View the temperature difference between the core and cavity mold surfaces
- Minimize unbalanced cooling and residual stress to reduce or eliminate part warpage
- Predict temperature for all surfaces within the mold: part, runners, cooling channels, inserts
- Predict the required cooling time for the part and cold runner to determine overall cycle time
Mold Flow Analysis
- Predict and visualize how the mold fills
- Optimize process conditions
- Optimize part wall thickness to achieve uniform filling, minimize cycle time, and reduce part cost
- Predict weld line locations and either move, minimize, or eliminate them
- Identify potential air traps and proper mold venting
- Determine injection pressure and clamp force requirements
- Determine warpage problems
- Determine gate freeze time
 Shrink Analysis
- Provide precise, optimum shrinkage values and predict shrinkage variations across the mold, so that mold design can be refined to compensate for these variations
- Enable control of molding conditions, gate location, and material grade selection to ensure specified part dimensions will be achieved
- Understand the effects of processing on shrinkage
- Replace the traditional “best-guess” approach
- Ensure the mold produces parts that are within critical tolerances, thereby reducing reject rates
- Eliminate the need to cut the mold under size and re-machine to finished size after mold trials
- Decrease the need for prototype tooling
- Evaluate the performance of different materials
Warp Analysis
- Evaluate final part shape before machining the mold
- Evaluate both single cavity and multi-cavity molds
- Scale shrinkage and warpage results for better visualization of deformation
- Constrain the part on a plane for better measurement of deflection
- Separate total displacement into X-, Y-, and Z-axis displacements to show only the deflection in each direction
- Show shrinkage and warpage as a visible displacement plot or as a color contour or shaded plot
- Export warp geometry in the STL format for reference when sizing the mold
- Export warp mesh model for an iterative warpage analysis
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