Autodesk Moldflow

Autodesk® Moldflow® simulation software provides injection molding simulation tools for optimizing plastic parts, injection molds, and the injection molding process. Autodesk® Moldflow® guides designers, mold makers, and engineers through simulation setup and results interpretation to show how changes to wall thickness, gate location, material, and geometry affect manufacturability. Autodesk Moldflow offers geometry support ranging from thin-walled parts to thick and solid applications and helps you to experiment with “what-if” scenarios before finalizing a design.

“A very useful and powerful tool that should reduce the end-to-end design cycle.”
A Wilde Moldflow client – June 2011

Formed in 1982, Autodesk, Inc. is a world leader in 2D and 3D design, engineering and entertainment software for the manufacturing, building and construction, and media and entertainment markets. Corporate details on Autodesk are available at www.autodesk.com.

Autodesk Moldflow helps you optimize the design of your plastic parts and injection molds, and study the injection molding process.

The following shows an example of setting up an Autodesk Moldflow simulation from CAD.

Simulate the flow of melted plastic to help optimize part and mold designs, reduce potential part defects, and improve the molding process.

• Part Defects—Determine potential part defects, such as weld lines, air traps, and sink marks, and then rework designs to help avoid these problems.
• Thermoplastic Filling—Simulate the filling phase of the thermoplastic injection molding process to help predict the flow of melted plastic and fill mold cavities uniformly; avoid short shots; and eliminate, minimize, or reposition weld lines and air traps.
• Thermoplastic Packing—Optimize packing profiles and visualize magnitude and distribution of volumetric shrinkage to help minimize part warpage and reduce defects, such as sink marks.

Plastic Flow Simulation

Model and optimize hot and cold runner systems and gating configurations. Improve part surfaces, minimize part warpage, and reduce cycle times.

• Gate Location—Identify up to 10 gate locations simultaneously. Minimize injection pressure and exclude specific areas when determining gate location.
• Runner Design Wizard—Create feed systems based on inputs for layout, size, and type of components, such as sprue, runners, and gates.
• Balancing Runners—Balance runner systems of single-cavity, multicavity, and family mold layouts so parts fill simultaneously, reducing stress levels and volume of material.
• Hot Runner Systems—Model hot runner system components and set up sequential valve gates to help eliminate weld lines and control the packing phase.

Feed System

Improve cooling system efficiency, minimize part warpage, achieve smooth surfaces, and reduce cycle times.

• Cooling Component Modeling—Analyze the mold’s cooling system efficiency. Model cooling circuits, baffles, bubblers, and mold inserts and bases.
• Cooling System Analysis—Optimize mold and cooling circuit designs to help achieve uniform part cooling, minimize cycle times, reduce part warpage, and decrease manufacturing costs.
• Rapid Heat Cycle Molding—Set up variable mold surface temperature profiles to both maintain warmer temperatures during filling to achieve smooth surfaces, and also reduce temperatures in the packing and cooling phases to help freeze parts and decrease cycle times.

Mold Cooling

Simulate thermoset injection molding, RIM/SRIM, resin transfer molding, and rubber compound injection molding.

• Reactive Injection Molding—Predict how molds will fill with or without fiber-reinforced pre-forms. Help avoid short shots due to pre-gelation of resin, and identify air traps and problematic weld lines. Balance runner systems, select molding machine size, and evaluate thermoset materials.
• Microchip Encapsulation—Simulate encapsulation of semiconductor chips with reactive resins and the interconnectivity of electrical chips. Predict bonding wire deformation within the cavity and shifting of the lead frame due to pressure imbalances.
• Underfill Encapsulation—Simulate flip-chip encapsulation to predict material flow in the cavity between the chip and the substrate.

Thermoset Flow

Evaluate part and mold designs to help control shrinkage and warpage.

• Shrinkage—Meet part tolerances by predicting part shrinkage based on processing parameters and grade-specific material data.
• Warpage—Predict warpage resulting from process-induced stresses. Identify where warpage might occur and optimize part and mold design, material choice, and processing parameters to help control part deformation.
• Core Shift Control—Minimize the movement of mold cores by determining ideal processing conditions for injection pressure, packing profile, and gate locations.
• Fiber Orientation—Control fiber orientation within plastics to help reduce part shrinkage and warpage across the molded part.

Shrinkage and Warpage

Use leading-edge simulation tools to solve design challenges.

• Insert Overmolding—Run an insert overmolding simulation to help determine the impact of mold inserts on melt flow, cooling rate, and part warpage.
• Two-Shot Sequential Overmolding—Simulate the two-shot sequential overmolding process: one part is filled; the tool opens and indexes to a new position; and a second part is molded over the first.
• Birefringence—Predict optical performance of an injection-molded part by evaluating refractive index changes that result from process-induced stresses. Evaluate multiple materials, processing conditions, and gate and runner designs to help control birefringence in the part.

Leading Edge Technology

Simulate a wide range of plastic molding processes and state-of-the-art process applications.

• Gas-Assisted Injection Molding—Determine where to position polymer and gas entrances, how much plastic to inject prior to gas injection, and how to optimize size and placement of gas channels.
• Co-Injection Molding—Visualize the advancement of skin and core materials in the cavity and view the dynamic relationship between the two materials as filling progresses. Optimize material combinations while maximizing the product’s cost-performance ratio.
• Injection-Compression Molding—Simulate simultaneous or sequential polymer injection and mold compression. Evaluate material candidates, part and mold design, and processing conditions.

Specialised Molding Processes

Use results-specific design advice to find the quickest path from problem to solution and then document the solution.

• Results Adviser – Query regions of a model to identify primary causes of short shots and poor part or cooling quality. Get suggestions on how to correct the part, mold, or process.
• Automatic Reporting Tools—Use the Report Generation Wizard to create web-based reports. Prepare and share simulation results more quickly and easily with customers, vendors, and team members.
• Microsoft® Office—Export results and images for use in Microsoft® Word reports and PowerPoint® presentations.

Results Interpretation

Use tools for native CAD model translation and optimization.

• CAD Solid Models—Import and mesh solid geometry from Parasolid®-based CAD systems, Autodesk® Inventor® software, CATIA® V5, Pro/ENGINEER®, and SolidWorks®, as well as IGES and STEP universal files.
• Error Checking & Repair—Scan imported geometry and automatically fix defects that can occur when translating the model from CAD software.
• Centerline Import/Export—Import and export feed system and cooling channel centerlines from and to CAD software to help decrease modeling time and avoid runner and cooling channel modeling errors.
• Autodesk® Moldflow® CAD Doctor—Check, correct, heal, and simplify solid models imported from 3D CAD systems to prepare for simulation.

CAD Interoperability

Get geometry support for thin-walled parts and thick and solid applications. Select mesh type based on desired simulation accuracy and solution time, or let Autodesk Moldflow determine optimal mesh type automatically.

• 3D Simulations—Perform 3D simulations on complex geometry using a solid, tetrahedral, finite element mesh technique. Ideal for electrical connectors, thick structural components, and geometries with thickness variations.
• Dual Domain Technology—Simulate solid models of thin-walled parts using Dual Domain™ technology. Work directly from 3D solid CAD models, leading to easier analysis of design iterations.
• Midplane Meshes—Generate 2D planar surface meshes with assigned thicknesses for thin-walled parts.

Advanced Meshing Technology

Improve simulation accuracy with precise material data.

• Materials Database—Use the built-in materials database of grade-specific information on more than 8,000 plastic materials characterized for use in plastic injection molding simulation.
• Autodesk Moldflow Plastics Labs—Get state-of-the-art plastic material testing services, expert data-fitting services, and extensive material databases with the Autodesk® Moldflow® Plastics Labs.

Extensive Material Data Library

Validate and optimize plastic part designs using tools to exchange data with structural simulation software. CAE data exchange is available with ANSYS, Autodesk® Algor® Simulation, and Abaqus® structural simulation software to account for the effects of processing on the performance of fiber-filled, injection-molded plastic parts when subjected to service loading.

CAE Data Exchange

Use dynamic help and a cost adviser to boost productivity.

• Dynamic Help – Get context-sensitive help on a results plot, including information on what to look for and how to correct typical problems. Learn more about solver theory, interpreting simulation results, and designing better plastic parts and injection molds.
• Cost Adviser – Learn what drives part costs in order to help minimize those costs. Estimate product costs based on material choice, cycle time, post-molding operations, and fixed costs.

Productivity Tools

Automate common tasks and customize Autodesk Moldflow software for your organization.

• API Tools—Application programming interface (API) tools expand the functionality of Autodesk Moldflow software by enabling you to automate common tasks, customize the user interface, work with third-party applications, and help implement corporate standards and best practices.
• Workspaces—Customize the user interface and application features for your team. Set up profiles to guide new users through the simulation process and identify common problems. Define other profiles to give additional functionality and flexibility to more experienced users.

Automation and Customisation