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.

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.

The report generator currently provided with the Moldflow Insight software user interface is powerful but somewhat inflexible. In this class you will discover how you can combine the Moldflow Insight software API with applications within the Microsoft Office Suite (PowerPoint, Excel, and so on) to produce highly customization, visually stunning reports. You will learn how to simply extract geometry, mesh material data, images, animations, and screen output data into a report. We will show several example reports.

This class will review new functionality in Moldflow Insight software and discuss current research directions in the development of Moldflow Insight software. Capabilities covered will include multi-shot overmolding and mold cooling; composite overmolding; the effect of fiber orientation on viscosity; the effect of material degradation on viscosity; microcellular foaming; improved fiber orientation and fiber breakage calculations; and user routines for viscosity, core-shift and more. There will also be an update of research collaborations in the area of injection molding simulation research.

The University of Bradford has been using Autodesk Simulation Moldflow software for many years to investigate key injection-molding effects such as fiber orientation, residual stresses, warpage, post-injection product performance, heat transfer, and feature replication. This class builds on our Autodesk University 2011 class and covers the experimental and computational analysis of short- and -fiber reinforced components during injection molding, along with thermal investigations of the micromolding process.

Do you use CAD models with Autodesk Moldflow products? If yes, then don't miss this class. We will discuss how to leverage Autodesk Inventor® Fusion technology as the front-end modeler and idealization tool for Autodesk Moldflow. We will show how to use Inventor Fusion to import CAD data, then edit and simplify it in preparation for Autodesk Moldflow simulation. We will discuss the techniques to simplify a part model and make design changes, such as modifying the part thickness and adding ribs, using Inventor Fusion. We will also discuss the alternative workflow of starting the simulation process in Autodesk Moldflow Insight, launching Inventor Fusion from Autodesk Moldflow Insight to modify geometry, and then rerunning the solver analysis in Autodesk Moldflow Insight.

In this class we will discuss the new capability to map fiber orientations and material properties from Simulation Moldflow software to structural finite element analysis (FEA). We will also cover how to use Simulation Composite Analysis software to simulate nonlinear material behavior of the fiber-filled material.

Find out how Simulation Moldflow Insight software was used in the successful investigation of gate and runner design optimization. We will give special focus to automatic geometry morphing and optimization through use of optimization software. Anyone interested in learning more about applying the powerful and specialized modules of Simulation Moldflow Insight software in the early stages of product design will gain from this lecture.

This class will review new functionality in Simulation Moldflow Insight software and discuss current research directions in the development of Simulation Moldflow software. Capabilities covered will include microcellular foaming, improved fiber orientation and fiber breakage calculations, enhanced wall slip calculations, velocity-controlled valve gates, induction heating, particle traces, user routines, the influence of mold deflection, and meshing enhancements. There will also be an overview of new research collaborations in the area of injection molding simulation research.

Come and learn about runner and gate optimization using Moldflow Insight software and third-party optimization software.

During this class we will address major issues related to 3D shrinkage and warpage analysis in injection molding. We would like to start with an introduction of mechanism of shrinkage and warpage. We will discuss the generic shrinkage model and its limitations. We will also present 3D thermo-viscous-elastic residual stress model and thermo-viscoelastic residual stress model. Finally, we will explore some advanced topics, such as corner-effect, in-mold shrinkage, stress relaxation, buckling, and large deflection analysis.

This class has two parts. First, we will review a study on using corrected residual in-molded stress (CRIMS) data to predict warpage. In this study, we selected five parts of increasing complexity and material flow path. We simulated five different materials with various process parameters. From the simulated data, we selected high-warp scenarios for molding and warpage and compared the results with CRIMS and without CRIMS. The study showed the importance and effect of warpage. Statistically, we found that using CRIMS to predict warpage showed a 10 times better probability of being accurate and a 29% improvement in accuracy. Next, we will look at using supplemental data. CRIMS data is specifically measured/generated by Autodesk® Simulation Moldflow® software by molding trails. The test method is expensive. Therefore, for selected materials, we can supplement CRIMS with equivalent material in the existing Moldflow data base. The experiment shows the effectiveness of method.

Compression molding is a process by which pressure is applied to a material by a heat mold. In the case of thermoset elastomers (rubber), the heat and pressure initiate cross linking of the polymer. A specific weight and shape of a material (called a preform) is placed into an open mold, after which the mold halves close. This compression stroke forces the resin to flow and fill out the cavity. After the mold is filled and pressure is applied for a given time (cure time) the mold is split open and the part is removed either by hand or by ejection methods. This process can be applied to both thermoplastic and thermoset materials, both with or without fiber reinforcement. Compression molding simulation can help determine the feasibility and conditions of the manufacturing process, including the size and placement of the preform(s), the internal cavity pressures, and temperatures during the process. These factors enable us to determine how tool and process design affect product quality. During this class, we will discuss an application of compression molding and compare it with compression molding analysis results.

This class reviews new functionality in Autodesk Simulation Moldflow Insight software and discusses recent and current research directions of Moldflow development. We cover the following capabilities: viscoelastic warp calculations, improved wall slip calculations, the influence of mold deflection, ejection force predictions, analysis of mold fatigue, flow imbalances (airflow), 3D compression molding, 3D conformal cooling, 3D hot runner elements, crystallization analysis, long fiber composites, and mesh preparation.

Sabic is a major manufacturer of long fiber filled polypropylene. These long fiber filled plastics can be used to produce light weight structural components with excellent structural properties. Light weighting products is particularly important in the Automotive and Transportation industry, where weight reduction is a major driver for improving fuel economy and reduces the overall carbon footprint over the product life. To leverage the high strength-to-weight ratio, the design of the products have to account for the manufacturing process. The Autodesk Moldflow 2012 release includes the ability to calculate the orientation of long fibers during the injection molding process, which is the main component in understanding the strength characteristics of the products. The understanding of the strength of the products can then in turn be fed back into the design to optimize the design of a lightweight, yet strong, plastic product.

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."

Injection mold designers and mold makers are facing increasing challenges due to newly developed molding technologies such as rapid heating and cooling molding (RHCM) or rapid temperature cycle (RTC), as the mold lifecycles could be shorter or uncertain. Even for traditional mold design and making, the lifecycle is typically based on experiences only. We have developed a new tool for mold fatigue analysis. It analyzes the progressive and localized structural damage that causes mold failure due to cyclic loading during the injection molding process. In this class, we will present the complete simulation sequence: transient thermal analysis, mold filling analysis, core-shift analysis, clamping influence, mold stress analysis, and eventually fatigue analysis. This sequence is automated in Autodesk® Simulation Moldflow® Insight software to identify where mold damage could happen first and how many cycles a mold will last.

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.

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.

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.