Abstract
Rubber injection moulds are typically designed based on experience and with the support of a few numerical simulations; this has serious limitations when optimal designs are needed. To overcome this issue, the computational cloud workflow will exploit a procedure based on an adaptive DoE, automatic CFD simulations and data-mining techniques for post-processing in order to allow interactive and fast exploration of the results by the end-user.
Technical and economic impact
The CloudFlow experiment aims to reproduce a rubber injection process. Given a 3D design of the mould and its heating system, the workflow will analyse process parameters such us rubber mass flow rate and pressure in each inlet and heating power distribution. With this information, properly post-processed within the CloudFlow workflow, the end-user will be able to minimize injection time, energy consumption and defects of the rubber product.
Benefits that will be achieved by the end-users are:
- Improved product quality. The HPC simulation workflow will allow a deep insight into the rubber injection process (not affordable without the HPC facility). This will lead to an improvement of final product quality due to the minimization of part defects. A better quality means reduction of inspection time, reduction of start-up time and reduction of rejected parts.
- Innovative manufacture process. In addition, information provided by the simulation workflow will allow to improve process parameters and to support the development of optimized process cycles and improved injection moulds.
- Time reduction: 25% time reduction of design and optimization cycle, start-up phase and quality inspection.
- Cost savings and profit margin: Due to the improvement of product quality, the reduction of design and optimization time, the reduction of energy consumption and the reduction of filling time, it is expected an improvement from 10% to 15% of the profit margin obtained for each mould.
- Job creation: abovementioned improvements will contribute to be more competitive in the target market and it is expected an increment of at least 10% of the personnel in the SME end-user and 5% in the big company. This means 14 new jobs in a horizon of 3 years.
Project:
Partners:
MIJU, S.A. (Spain), STANDARD PROFIL SPAIN, S.A. (Spain), ITAINNOVA – Instituto Tecnológico de Aragón – (Spain), UNIZAR-BIFI – Universidad de Zaragoza – (Spain), NABLADOT, S.L. (Spain), Fraunhofer IGD (Germany)
Sector
Machinery & equipment
Keywords
Modelling & Simulation
