Sep 24 2004
Moldflow Corporation today announced MoldflowWorks™ for SolidWorks® 2005 from SolidWorks Corporation. Based on Moldflow’s patented Dual Domain™ technology, MoldflowWorks enables analysis driven design of plastic parts intended for injection molding from within SolidWorks 2005. By validating the manufacturability and quality of plastic parts during the design process, MoldflowWorks assists designers to assure an optimal part design in the earliest stages of product development.
MoldflowWorks provides an upgrade path for SolidWorks users who need more than the basic functionality provided by MoldflowXpress, the entry-level design validation tool that comes standard with SolidWorks 2005. Current Moldflow Part Adviser for SolidWorks customers will be offered a migration path to upgrade to MoldflowWorks.
MoldflowWorks key features include:
- A grade-specific materials database containing approximately 8,000 plastics to assure the most accurate simulation results;
- Multiple analysis options including fill analysis, optimal injection location placement and prediction of visual defects such as sink marks, weld lines and air traps;
- Analysis process parameter control allowing users to specify mold and melt temperatures, maximum injection pressure and the injection time for any analysis. Especially critical for correlation to real-life results is the control over maximum injection pressure;
- Valuable results including Moldflow’s unique “Confidence of Fill” plot, which provides an indication of the ease or difficulty of filling a part with melted plastic; a fill time plot for visualizing the flow of molten plastic through the part; injection pressure and flow front temperature distribution plots; and weld line and air trap location predictions;
- A seamlessly integrated user interface that allows access to all functionality from within SolidWorks 2005.
“The release of MoldflowXpress earlier this year put an entry-level plastics design validation tool on the desktop of every SolidWorks user worldwide,” said Peter Rucinski, director of design analysis product marketing for Moldflow Corporation. “MoldflowWorks is the next logical step for any MoldflowXpress user who wants access to more plastics material data, additional analysis functionality, or expanded results that will allow them to optimize their part designs for the injection molding process and take into account such critical process parameters as injection pressure and flow front temperature.”
“Products developed by companies such as Moldflow and SolidWorks are judged on the value they deliver to customers,” said Chris Garcia, vice president of research and development for SolidWorks Corporation. “With Moldflow and SolidWorks, the value proposition is clear and simple. In order to optimize material usage and material flow during design and to otherwise avoid production delays downstream, engineers designing plastic parts or injection molds need to validate those designs upfront with an embedded tool designed specifically for SolidWorks software. This critical design validation process begins with MoldflowXpress, and can now be extended with MoldflowWorks.”
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