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Success Story

Windage Success Story

Windage Success Story

Customer challenge

Windsor, Ontario-based Build-A-Mold Ltd. conducted simulation work on an automotive oil pan mold for which it had severe warpage concerns that were based on the company’s experiences with previous molds molded from similar glass-filled nylon materials.

Project goals

Despite analysis efforts to improve gating, processing and cooling design, the best warpage that could be expected was nearly 15 mm around the part’s skirt profile. Compounding the problem was a predicted twist in the part, which meant that any windage being applied in simulation would be applied to the many ribs that ran the length of the part, essentially making undercuts.

Solution

After several attempts, the right windage factor of 1.05 was determined to bring the warpage back to near-zero around the skirt. The reason is that there was a tendency of this part to twist rather than bend in the shape of an arc. Next, dealing with the ribs. The windage STL model with the best windage factor was then overlaid with the CAD model of the mold. From that overlay, the Build-A-Mold team conducted some intricate CAD surfacing work to produce a final 3D windage model of the mold with no undercuts. Some parts were then molded, and the resulting skirt flat-ness came within tolerance, although some adjustments were still needed to be made to the inward/outward warpage of the skirt. In fact, it turned out that using a slightly different valve-gate sequence produced similar flatness results but better inward/outward warpage on the side walls, which was confirmed in simulation.

Business outcome

From Build-A-Mold’s perspective, this was an interesting simulation, because it had never used Autodesk Moldflow for windage. The results speak for themselves, however. Build-A-Mold estimates conservatively that it saved a minimum of $10,000 to $15,000 in tooling costs alone.

Conclusion

Applying Kentucky windage to a mold is not for the faint of heart. However, if a warpage problem cannot be solved through simulation to improve the mold design or process, then windage may be the last resort. If warpage simulation is conducted properly by experienced simulation engineers, it can be leveraged to take the guesswork out of windage and reduce or even eliminate the tuning loops needed to bring parts into tolerance.

Project summary

    Duration & delivery

  • 41
  • 2020-08-25

    Autodesk solutions

  • Moldflow Insight

    Services provided

  • Simulation

    Customer industry

  • Design & Manufacturing
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