Industry Challenges
Today’s automotive industry is not only under time-to-market pressure, but also faced with more complex design challenges including fuel economy and material savings. As more and more plastics have been chosen as the preferred alternative, optimizing plastics injection molding processes is essential for automakers to remain competitive in the industry.
Moldex3D Solutions and Benefits
Moldex3D is designed for auto manufacturers and design engineers to simulate and verify complex auto parts/molds based on true 3D technology. With Moldex3D, auto designers or makers are able to manage the life cycle of a product from its conception, through design and manufacturing. This also helps component designers or suppliers to get rid of most potential problems in early stage. Also, visualization of the entire injection molding processes of auto parts allows users to obtain solutions more efficiently. In addition, through Moldex3D FEA Interface, products with potential process-induced variation such as fiber orientation and residual stress can be analyzed with various structure analysis packages.
Moldex3D Solves Tough Problems
Exterior/Interior
- Weld lines and air traps caused by multi-gate processes are critical aesthetic problems for bumper and instrument panel productions.
- Tackle shrinkage and warpage problems, validate mechanical performance and improve productivity.
- Detect weld lines and air traps behaviors so as to optimize gate number and locations.
- Validate designs upfront by taking into account the process-induced residual stresses and material anisotropy.
- Investigate the main causes of shrinkage and warpage, and further to provide directions to polish part design or mold design, and to optimize the operation conditions.
Under Hood Applications
- The air intake manifolds, engine covers, front-end modules, rocker covers, radiator end tanks, oil pan modules and other under hood components are usually molded with glass fiber filled engineering plastics. Dimension tolerance is the key factor.
- Gas-assisted and water-assisted injection molding is commonly used in these thick/hollow part productions, but the process variation is not easily controlled.
- Moldex3D allows engineers to visualize the melt formation history and the fiber orientation and further examine the dimension deformation, which improves dimensional accuracy.
- Through Moldex3D FEA Interface, products with potential process-induced variation such as anisotropic fiber orientation can be analyzed in various structure analysis packages.
- Using Moldex3D GAIM (Gas Assisted Injection Molding module) and WAIM (Water Assisted Injection Module) to predict hollow parts, users are able to identify various parameters such as gas/water pressure, delay time, gas/water and melt interaction scientifically. It demystifies the black boxes of GAIM and WAIM.
Lighting Applications
- The headlight covers must be molded with zero weld line, good dimensional accuracy and transparency.
- The lamp reflectors are molded with thermoset material, and heating uniformity and molding conditions affect the product a lot.
- The signal and brake lights are often molded in multiple shots with various colors to achieve decorative or visual effects.
- Allowing engineers to visualize the melt front advancement and to further examine the deformation for both thermoplastic and thermoset materials.
- Enhancing the mold temperature uniformity and optimizing the cooling line layout for thermoplastics and heater layout for thermosets.
- Predicting temperature variation of the first shot during the filling process of the second shot to minimize color shift.