Cycle time
Time is money!
The costs of a component consist of several factors. These include the material costs, which are essentially determined by the component volume and the manufacturing costs which can be minimized to a decisive extent by a short cycle time. The question therefore concerns which "screw" the product developer needs to adjust to ensure the component costs are as profitable as possible while the level of part quality remains unchanged.
Optimization of total costs
The wall thickness of a component has increases the cooling time to the power of four. A reduction of the wall thickness and thus of the cycle time can therefore - even in the event of higher material prices - lead to a lower component price in overall terms. In this case it is important above all to integrate the required mechanical properties, the material viscosity and the crystallization behavour in addition to the material price within optimization of total costs. The productivity of manufacturing of component parts is increased by means of optimized cooling as by using form following cooling. The flow rate of the coolant and its temperature serve as actuating variables. In addition the diameter of the cooling channels or cycles and their arrangement in relation to one another and to the cavity are decisive for cooling performance. The tool material is an additional influencing variable.
Plastic simulation center
- Optimization of wall thickness by remaining the same level of flexural rigidity or strength due to design changes, material or process changes (manufacturing of thick-walled component in a gas or water injection procedure)
- Optimization of cooling if the wall thickness can't be a subject to change, reasoned by design or manufacturing, by simulation of the coolant flow rate, the coolant temperature, arrangement of the cooling channels etc.
- Optimization of the process settings. Our engineers calculate the various, optimized component variants and compare cycle times versus costs.
As a specialist for the simulation of injection moulding processes and component stresses Impetus Plastics Engineering has so far demonstrated its expertise in hundreds of projects. The calculation of component variants, FEM simulations of load conditions, deformation situations and failure modes, structural analyses of glass fiber reinforced injection moulded parts as well as anisotropy tests can be found in the service portfolio.
