“Parasolid has proven to be remarkably effective in meeting our needs to offer advanced capabilities like direct modeling and surfacing control in our mix-and-match modeling environment,” says James Dagg, chief technology officer at Altair. In cases where such shapes are not aesthetically pleasing or suited to manufacturing methods, Altair users can leverage advanced surface modeling capabilities in Parasolid to wrap these complex shapes in NURBS surfaces to create smooth 3D solids that are suitable for export to downstream applications. The results of topology optimization are usually organic shapes that often bear little resemblance to the original CAD geometry. This capability can be used, for example, to modify the design space that is subject to analysis and optimization. Direct modeling enables Inspire users to push and pull faces interactively. Altair uses Parasolid to support this defeaturing operation with an extensive set of model simplification tools that identify and delete specific features in a model prior to analysis.Īltair also implemented direct modeling, a more recent and advanced editing technique developed in Parasolid. Engineers often remove such features prior to analysis and optimization to improve performance. The original geometric model that is subject to analysis and optimization may include features such as holes, pockets and blends, added by the designer using conventional interactive modeling techniques.
Topology optimization automatically computes an ideal shape for the structure in a design space that optimizes for properties such mass or stiffness under user-defined loading conditions. Structural analysis and topology optimization are core components of Altair Inspire that enable users to create more efficient designs and reduce costs.
In both cases, Inspire users benefit from full control over the shape using visual controls or precise numeric constraints, for example by constraining the degree of continuity between adjacent surfaces.ĭefeaturing for structural analysis and topology optimization Users develop models quickly and easily by taking advantage of Parasolid’s extensive mechanical CAD modeling functions, such as adding, subtracting, intersecting, hollowing, tapering and blending solid geometry.Įngineers can intuitively fashion complex organic shapes with non-uniform rational b-spline (NURBS) surfaces created along user-defined guide curves or automatically fitted between existing surfaces.
At the same time, the modeling tools need to be intuitive enough for design engineers to master quickly and easily.Īltair selected the Parasolid® software geometric modeler, part of the Xcelerator™ portfolio of solutions and services from Siemens Digital Industries Software, because it offers Altair Inspire™ users the widest array of 3D modeling capabilities available. Mix-and-match 3D modeling in a single intuitive applicationĪltair recognized that a leading simulation-driven design application needs to offer a comprehensive geometric modeler to capture the diversity of form in manufactured products across a broad range of industries, and the range of preferred methods used in their design. Virtual testing, validation, correction, and optimization of molding designs can be easily performed through a five-step workflow, providing access to evaluation of injection molded part manufacturability that mitigates common manufacturing defects (warping, sink marks, short shots, etc.) long before a mold is made.Īltair offers a comprehensive set of solutions to develop innovative, manufacturable products faster: from the initial design of the part and understanding the injection molding process, to material mapping of reinforced engineering polymers and efficiently analyzing and optimizing the structural and fatigue performance of complex parts.Provided customers a sophisticated, integrated 2D sketcherĪltair’s comprehensive, openarchitecture solutions for data analytics, simulation, and high-performance computing (HPC) enable design and optimization for high-performance, innovative and sustainable products and processes in an increasingly connected world.
Understand how the mold fills with a fast analysis, then dig deeper into the process with a detailed simulation of all the advanced physics. Simulation is finally democratized and placed in the hands of designers and product engineers early in the development cycle, enabling easy exploration of options and delivering improved products, reduced scrap, and tooling rework costs. Inspire Mold provides a modern integrated approach to streamline design for manufacturing (DfM) of injection molded components.
Injection molding of plastics is an established, proven industrial manufacturing process for the mass production of identical components.