Selecting the correct injection molding simulation software can be challenging when designing plastic parts. This session will review the various Autodesk simulation tools available on the market today, including Fusion Injection Molding Simulation, Moldflow Adviser, and Moldflow Insight. This in-depth comparison will help you understand which injection molding simulation tool is right for your needs based on your objectives and desired outcomes.

Have you attended our Autodesk University Factory Live Experience? Want to learn how we created some of the parts using Autodesk Fusion 360 software? In this session, the team that helped design the keypad for the Autodesk University Factory will walk through how Autodesk Simulation tools can help you along your design journey from concept to production. Learn if Fusion 360 injection molding simulation is right for you, or if you need Moldflow injection molding simulation to get your part production ready.

This presentation will focus on simulation techniques used to compare traditional hurling stick material and performance against a composite redesign. We used several Autodesk tools—including Fusion 360 software, Netfabb software, Moldflow, and Autodesk Nastran software—to evaluate and optimize the performance of the composite structure.

This class will discuss the requirements and workflow for simulating flow imbalances in injection molding that are caused by shear heating in branched runner systems. Validation case studies will also include the MeltFlipper design, as well as in-cavity flow imbalances that lead to race-track effects. This class will focus on the use of the Autodesk Moldflow Insight software.

 Moldflow Insight software is used to develop automotive interior and exterior in China’s Chang’an Automobile Group, from the stage of engineering design to part's structure design then to mold design and molding condition optimize also include the trouble shooting after the first trial. Based on the comparison between the experiment and Moldflow Insight results, Chang’an successfully built an analysis standard and results judge standard. With the help of API, Chang’an created many programs to automatically do the model create, molding condition optimize, results judge, and so on. To meet the assessment criteria of GDT which was used on the part of motor, normally defined the tolerance of fit. Changan's analyst explore and studied a new way to simulate and examine the part's GDT by co-work with Moldflow Insight, Digimat, and Abaqus. This class will use many actual case to show these application, through that we can see the benefit of use right  Moldflow Insight application strategy in the development of automotive interior and exterior new part.

In this class, you will learn about products in the Autodesk Simulation Moldflow software ecosystem that can bring fantastic and unique capabilities to Moldflow products. We will introduce you to capabilities that can help make your job easier, better, and more fun. The class will cover several products, including Autodesk® Simulation 360 cloud-based software and the Autodesk® Inventor® Fusion Technology Preview, which is a free history-free modeler that you can use to make simple changes to existing CAD geometry. We will also cover the Autodesk® Simulation® DFM add-on, which is a designer tool that helps you develop a plastic part that follows standard plastic design rules and can help you avoid time-consuming iterations between the Moldflow user and the CAD designer. You will learn about Autodesk® PLM 360 cloud-based product lifecyle management and Autodesk® Vault, Autodesk® Showcase®, and Autodesk® Inventor® Publisher software. We will also examine Autodesk® Simulation Mechanical software and the tooling capabilities of Autodesk® Inventor® software. Finally, we will introduce you to the Project Simulus Technology Preview from Autodesk Labs.

Resin transfer molding (RTM) is a relatively established technique for manufacturing continuous fiber composites. As lightweighting initiatives continue in automotive, new techniques for RTM are being established to reduce cycle time. Join the Moldflow and OCTO Teams for a discussion and demonstration of the RTM capabilities within Moldflow software, including forming simulations to acquire fiber orientations for the flow simulation in Moldflow software. This session features Moldflow and TruPlan.

Commercially available simulation software was used to study the effect of processing conditions on the structural performance of glass-fiber-reinforced polypropylene. Processing conditions such as gate locations were used to evaluate the subsequent change in glass fiber orientation and its effect on structural performance of a demonstrative part. Results show that processing conditions play a critical role in the success of a structural composite and must be considered foremost in the design process.

Valve gates are widely used in the plastics molding industry to enhance product quality by eliminating weld lines, reducing flow length, improving packing, and so on. However, the usage of conventional valve gates also brings challenges (including sudden changes in flow front speed and pressure shocks in hot runner systems, among others) that might adversely affect part quality. This class will introduce a new type of valve gate control technology—velocity-controlled valve gate—and we will highlight its benefits. The class will also showcase the newly developed capability in Simulation Moldflow Insight software of simulating the velocity-controlled valve gates.

This class will describe the benefits of using PowerShape software and Moldflow Insight to model and simulate a conformal cooling tool. With 3D printing on the rise, conformal cooling is becoming a more widely available option to create cooling channels in metal in order to more evenly cool a plastic component during the molding process. Utilizing the modeling power of PowerShape to build a mold with channels following the geometry of the plastic part-and then validating the channels using Moldflow-can save time and money by eliminating the need to 'build it and hope it works."

Generative design is a hot topic, but existing manufacturing methods like casting and injection molding seem to be hiding behind the curtains. This presentation will focus less so on additive manufacturing and more so on mass manufacturing methods currently being used industry wide. By leveraging existing generative design technology with casting and injection molding best practices, we can re-shape how current product design for manufacturing workflows can be achieved. By demonstrating the capabilities of new generative design technology, this talk will expose the new feature enhancements showcasing a realistic approach to the manufacturing and product design world which can be implemented into product design and manufacturing workflows today.

Often, you run several to dozens of results on a given part to optimize the results. Often, the changes in results are minor and subtle. However, these small changes are often the difference between a good design and great design. The maximum and minimum values for a result are usually outliers that don't tell the whole story; instead, value distribution is critical. Volumetric shrinkage is a case in point: The range of shrinkage may be 1% to 10%, but most of the part is between 2.5% and 4%. You can see this trend when you look at the graphical results, but you can't quantify it. But when you export your data using an API script, you can use a tool such as a spreadsheet program to create a histogram. Histograms become exceptionally useful when you compare them between studies. In this class, we’ll explore the use of histograms for looking at many types of Moldflow results.

This class will discuss different approaches to injection molding simulations with  Moldflow Insight software. Individual users have been given a problem to solve using Moldflow software. We will present their approaches, and then we will compare and contrast the different approaches. Analyisto e analyisto— it’s a showdown you don’t want to miss. Get ready to rumble!

To produce high-quality surface finishes for plastic parts with low production costs, automotive suppliers require flash heating of the mold. Induction heating uses high-frequency electricity to heat electrically conductive materials from within the mold. Autodesk, Inc., has teamed with RocTool (the foremost technology provider of induction heating equipment) to simulate this process. This presentation describes the theory, challenges, and 3D finite element solution of the Maxwell electromagnetic field equations. Finally an excellent correlation was achieved with validation data provided by RocTool.

In this class, you will learn how to set up, run, and interpret the results for a Design of Experiment (DOE) analysis. The DOE tool in Moldflow Insight is now very powerful and can help you solve many problems. Setting up a DOE analysis to target specific requirements is the key to getting the most from the analysis. This class will introduce you to tips and tricks to get the most from the DOE analysis.

As General Motors relies more on Autodesk® Simulation Moldflow® software for upfront design for manufacturability, it has become apparent that the capability to accurately predict location and relative quality of meld lines is essential to eliminate costly tool re-work—work that is necessary to resolve surface quality and/or part performance issues. A research project was initiated under the auspices of continuous improvement to study the effect of mesh density—relative to obstruction size—on the ability of Moldflow to accurately predict position, length, and quality of a meld line. This class will review the findings of this research by using case studies to illustrate the impact of poor meld-line predictions on tooling strategy and explain how these tooling decisions could have been avoided through meshing technique. Proper mesh density for the accurate prediction of meld-line location and quality will be the next best practice enhancement to the GM Moldflow Specification, GMW16355.

Analysts working with Autodesk® Simulation Moldflow® software must not only run quality simulations, but also interpret the results and present them clearly. This class is about looking beyond the default plots and customizing the results to improve result clarity for yourself and your audience. Time permitting, you will have a chance to show and discuss your favorite custom plots.

This class will review new functionality in Autodesk® Moldflow® Insight software that represents the current research directions in Moldflow development. We will discuss several capabilities, including 3D injection compression molding, conformal cooling support, 3D heater elements, crystallization analysis, breakage of long fibers and properties of LFT composites, bi-injection molding, multiple cylinder support for 3D gas injection, buckling analysis for 3D warp, improved wall slip calculation, viscoelastic residual stress, ejection force prediction, and analysis of mold fatigue.

Autodesk® Simulation Moldflow® Insight is a powerful tool to simulate the different stages of the injection molding process. New capabilities of this tool include a transient mold thermal analysis. This type of simulation combines the mold filling and packing simulation with a heat transfer analysis, hence providing increased accuracy in the mold thermal solution. Attendees see the variables that influence the analysis results and improvements that can be done to the model to more closely correlate with the real life. For this purpose, simulation results are compared to experimental results over a design of experiments varying coolant temperature, injection rate, barrel temperature, and cooling time. The experimental results, obtained using an instrumented mold, include temperature and pressure data. Finally, the differences between the transient cooling analysis and the conventional cycle average solution are compared as well as their correlation to experimental results.

Different composite materials have been in used for many years in the automotive industry to create components that have unique characteristics, such as being strong and light. The trend in using composite materials is accelerating to meet lightweighting requirements to meet the next generation of fuel economy standards. An interesting lightweighting application combines the use of continuous fiber composite material with injection molding. The continuous fiber composite material forms a lightweight shell, while the necessary support structure can be created by overmolding it with a fiber-filled plastic. This so-called hybrid technique can create extremely lightweight strong parts that can be manufactured in large volumes. Autodesk® Simulation Moldflow® plastic injection molding simulation software can help with the design and engineering efforts for this process.