Introduction:

TopSolid'PlasticFlow is an optional module that allows you, related to a material database of the most usual Plastics of the market, to perform a Plastic Flow Rheological analysis of your plastic parts. To complete correctly this computation, we integrate the Cadmould Essential software technology, edited and created by Simcon Gmbh.

Part document

This is the document that contains the part design.

The material assigned to the part must get the following information:

• Cadmould material id.

Plastic Flow Analysis Preparation document

This document contains the part meshing and the tools needed to correctly set the calculation constraints.

Theses constraints are:

• Positioning of the injection point(s).

• Material settings to use, if they were not defined in the part document.

•  Settings of the injection process Parameters.

Result document

This document is automatically generated when the resolution of one of the defined analyses is launched in a calculation preparation document.

Each analysis of the "calculation preparation" document generates a separate result file.

This document allows to visualize the following results:

• Cavity : part display without any calculation.

• Thickness : part appears with a gradient chart, helpful to check the global thickness of the part. A too "extended" range indicates the potential defaults of the part.

• Flow front - Time when filled : an animation allows to visualize the flow front progression in the core/cavity blocks, according to the injection time. The color range allows you to know the material place at a specific time.

• Flow front - Temperature when filled : this result shows the material temperature when the material arrives at a specific place for the first time.

• Snapshot filling - Pressure :the color range allows you to know the material pressure value at a specific time, at a specific place. The most the filling is completed, the most the entry blocks pressure is high, that allows to reach the blocks end faster.

• Part quality - Filling problem : allows to visualize the potential problem area during the blocks filling.

• Part quality - Ejection time : allows to know the needed time to get, at a specific place, the material solidification. The maximum time value is the time needed by the plastic material to be fully solidified in the blocks.

Analysis process

A part analysis is performed with the use of a group of dedicated commands.

Here is exposed, in a simplified way, the different steps of an analysis:

Include Part to Analyze

Use the command Analysis > Include..., click on   or "drag & drop" the part document from the project tree in the Plastic flow analysis preparation previously created.

Analysis Creation

Use the command Analysis | New analysis

Constraints definition

Use the group of commands

1. • Analysis > Wizard

   • Analysis > Injection point

   • Analysis > Injection process parameters

Material definition

Use the command Material > Tools > Cadmould Material

Calculation Resolution

Use the command Analysis > Solver

Result View

A new result document is associated to your current analysis. You can visualize your results with the command:

1. • Results > Results Display

Operations window

The operation window of the TopSolid'PlasticFlow document is "quite" different than the one of an usual Design document.

In this tree, we group the different folders of a rheological analysis: