Plastics Gate Optimizer

The design exploration workflow is connected through the Nexus platform for a seamless collaborative execution from mechanical job preparation and injection moulding setup to the automated launch of simulation and result extraction. All data are synchronised, in real-time, into a Nexus document to avoid file manipulation errors and maintain coherency between injection moulding and mechanical simulations.

A connected solution as Plastics Gate Optimizer –including Digimat and MARC/Mentat- brings significant time savings by allowing a faster evaluation of multiple gate position scenarios without needing to worry about the cumbersome repetitiveness of setting up numerous similar simulations with different gate positions. For example, the time to evaluate three design loops of a two-plastic parts assembly with four load cases can be reduced from four days to half a day.

This allows the evaluation of all gate scenarios without compromising on the simulated load cases.

There is no need to limit simulations to the most critical cases only to save time. Simulation is not a bottleneck anymore. Avoid late issue discovery using anisotropic material modelling early in the design phase.

FEA job preparation with Mentat, Definition of Assembly, Requirements and KPIs

Mentat is the well-known preprocessor of MARC nonlinear solver, well suited for plastics nonlinear behaviour. In this workflow, Mentat defines boundary conditions, loads, nonlinear simulation settings, and contact bodies necessary for assembly definition.

The automated process needs to rely on a clear definition of the assembly studied, with plastic parts identified. The requirements and the KPIs to display are defined in the Nexus GUI to extract the results later automatically. After determining the assembly, the requirement and the KPIs, the input deck is uploaded to the Nexus Cloud document.

Materials assignment and gates definitions with Digimat-MS Moldex3D

Digimat-MS Moldex3D modifies the input deck and estimates the fibre orientation, adding multiscale simulation capabilities to the mechanical simulation. First, it assigns anisotropic material for mechanical simulation and defines material for injection moulding. Then, it allows the specification of all gate candidates for further configuration of injection moulding.

Gate configuration

Plastics Gate Optimizer is a native Nexus web application. It is used to review all assemblies, requirements and KPIs information. Beyond this, it is the tool where the user defines various gate configurations by selecting each gate candidate.

The simulations can be launched when all gate configurations are set and validated on all plastic parts. Each combination of gate configurations is simulated. Digimat-MS batch mode manages the queue of simulations. It launches the required injection simulations in embedded Moldex3D. Then, the Marc solver is launched with the Digimat multiscale solver. A monitoring page allows us to follow the evolution of all simulations and access log files in case of error. Executing the simulation runs and the input and output data handling is fully automated. This saves the user a lot of time.

Result extraction and display in Nexus Document

At the end of mechanical simulations, KPI results are extracted and saved in the Nexus document with the log and result files. All KPI's raw data are then aggregated into an objective indicator for each gate configuration combination. The result page's easy comparison functionalities allow quickly identifying the best gate configuration.

The central depository of all data from the input deck to results is the Nexus document. The user creates a Nexus document for each design project that can be shared with the project team. Any change in the document is instantly visible to all users connected to it. It is the core of the collaborative functionality of the Nexus platform, enabling real-time data exchange. The simulation process benefits from the Nexus collaborative environment, allowing the parallel launch of multiple sessions from simulation locations to balance the load. All simulations are run locally.

In Summary

The ICME approach reduces the time-to-market for designing lightweight components thanks to an accurate prediction of the as-manufactured part performance, which reduces the need for physical prototyping.

The Nexus-connected workflow is a new step in using ICME for design exploration. The collaborative capabilities of Nexus associated with workflow automation are helping the industry design engineered plastic parts better and faster.