Moldflow analysis simulation software is a valuable tool to help bring high-quality parts to market on time and on budget. Simulation software is an indispensable tool in the design and development of complex 3D parts. It also helps to predict the impact of light weight and ultra-thinness on the quality of existing products. Although simulation software does not produce results 100% accurately, it prevents you from making some serious mistakes.

There are many benefits to using mold flow analysis software.

Save time and cost. New parts are designed to analyze their manufacturability immediately. In the past, there was a risk that defects in part design would not be noticed until the mold tool was manufactured. Changing the design of parts and molds at this stage will be expensive and time consuming.

The software will predict potential quality issues such as flow lines, weld lines, deep below cuts, insufficient draft angles, warpage and sink marks. This means that part design changes can be made immediately, with little time and cost to solve them.

Injection mold design can also analyze potential defects before mold construction. An example of this is the use of a series of molds in which the flow channels can be sized to achieve balanced filling, eliminating component quality problems due to uneven filling times.

It can be applied to new and existing part designs. Although common in new 3D part designs with complex shapes, it can also be used with existing simple parts, such as round covers, to predict the effect of part quality and forming conditions on wall thickness variations.

The current trend in the injection molding industry is to make products lighter and thinner to save on material costs, but this makes molding quality parts more difficult. Understanding these effects can save a lot of time and stress before making expensive changes to existing part design, mold design, or machine requirements.

Predict molding machine requirements. Knowing the size of the machine in advance can calculate the cost of the part, because larger machines run at a higher cost than smaller machines. This also helps with machine scheduling and planning.

Troubleshooting. Mold flow analysis software can be used to solve quality problems such as warpage of existing parts.

Disadvantage

In order to get accurate results from the simulation, the information entered into the software must be accurate.

The simulation package has mathematical behavioral characteristics of thousands of plastic materials. This information was obtained through a series of tests in the laboratory, including the use of injection molding machines to produce test samples for analysis.

These tests will provide data on the specific material behavior during the filling and packaging stages of the molding process. The test will also show shrinkage and warpage characteristics.

So the most important thing is to use the same material data for simulation, which will be used in production.

But what if you don’t have it in the package?

Samples of the material need to be sent to the laboratory for testing. This can cost thousands of dollars and take weeks to analyze. This is one of the shortcomings of simulation software.

Another issue to consider is meshing. Meshing is the decomposition of a three-dimensional computer model of a part into small triangles, which are then simulated. The smaller the triangle, the more accurate the calculation, but the longer the calculation, the higher the cost. Therefore, a balance must be struck between time and accuracy.