Software:

New Version Of Part And Mold Design 'Advisor' Released

Moldflow has released Version 5.0 of its Moldflow Plastics Advisers (MPA)software. The software, which is made up of the Moldflow Part Adviser and theMoldflow Mold Adviser, is designed to let plastic part and mold designers takecontrol of their designs early on, enabling every part and mold concept to betested for manufacturing feasibility before the tool is cut, when the cost ofchange is minimal.

Developed as a companion to all CAD solid modeling systems, MPA allows users torun simulations and view results directly on the solid model where they canidentify and resolve part quality issues such as weld lines, voids, burn marksand sink marks.

Some of the new features in MPA 5.0 include:

*Sink Mark Analysis. For many parts, exterioraesthetics are important. Sink marks can cause cosmetic problems that can delayproduction and lead to additional costs in the product development cycle. MPA5.0 can explicitly identify sink mark locations and predict their severity sothat designers can take preventive steps to eliminate these costly defects.

*Cooling Quality Analysis. Provides critical feedbackon areas of a part that are poorly designed. The analysis identifies excessiveheat concentrations or heat loss on the model that could be due to the thicknessor geometry of the part. The adverse effects of sharp corners, deep cores andclose proximity of geometric features can be studied through the cooling qualityanalysis. Extending MPA's 'traffic light' analogy, the analysis identifiesregions that have high (green), medium (yellow), and low (red) cooling quality.

*Consolidated Materials Data-base. MPA 5.0 combinesC-MOLD's and Moldflow's material databases into a single database consisting ofnearly 7500 grades of materials. The database represents a 50% increase inofferings compared to MPA 4.0.

*Cost Adviser. MPA 5.0's Cost Adviser feature helpspart designers quantify the projected cost to manufacture a given part's design,as well as realize the impact of a design or material change on part cost. Molddesigners using Cost Adviser reportedly can accurately estimate piece-part costand forecast profit and yield expectations.

*Analysis Selection Wizard. For new MPA users, theAnalysis Selection Wizard serves as a one-stop analysis launch window, i.e., oneeasy-to-use interface to access any analysis. The Analysis Selection Wizard alsoindicates which analyses can be performed, which cannot and why. The visualfeedback is said to be especially helpful for infrequent or novice users. Theautomatic feedback helps users understand what to expect, what data is missingfrom the model to be analyzed, and what data is required to launch an analysis.

Other improvements include faster filling analysis, user interface enhancements and Report Wizard enhancements.

Ken Welch, Moldflow's Vice President of Marketing, says users of MPA on a PCplatform can expect a 25% increase in the speed of the Plastic Flow Analysis.UNIX platform users will experience a greater increase in analysis speed.

The user interface now shows X, Y and Z values of the orientation angle more explicitly. Previously, only the orientation angle was shown. In addition, users can input a specific orientation angle and the model will rotate to that angle.

Users can also save View Bookmarks with the model. Previously, the ViewBookmarks were lost when the active session was closed. In addition, images canbe saved in gif, jpg and bmp formats. Previously, to save a graphics program,the screen-capture option let users copy an image to a clipboard and paste itinto a third-party graphics program.

The Report Wizard now allows users to edit a report or customize a template, as well as create a new report. Users can also turn modeling features on or off in the images used for the report.

For example, a user could choose to turn off the injection cones (make them invisible) in an image generated for a report. Similarly the user can select different views for different images in the report; thus the injection pressure plot can be oriented in one way and the fill-time plot in another.

Users can also select custom plots (such as animations, images or plain text files) that were saved previously to include in a report. This will let users easily compare two designs in one report.

Moldflow Corp.
Wayland, MA