What is Moldflow Analysis?
A moldflow analysis simulates the injection molding cycle before your mold goes into the final production stage. The purpose of it is to optimize the mold design and create the best parts possible during the production process.
These analyses are typically performed on a virtual version of the mold. During the process, engineers examine the design and create color maps of the various properties in the mold flow. These properties include injection pressure, fiber orientation, air bubbles, heating, and cooling.
Benefits of a Moldflow Analysis
Overall, completing an analysis will save you time and money. You’ll spend less time troubleshooting defective parts and can get your products to market faster. But how? Let’s dive into exactly what your analysis can help you optimize.
Improve Gate Position
The gate is the opening in a mold through which the molten plastic is injected. The location, size, and shape of the gate can have a great impact on your part’s structural integrity all the way to its final appearance.
Positioning the gate correctly is crucial to ensure your parts are made to your exact specifications. A suboptimal gate position can result in scrap parts and costly downtime. Completing an analysis will help the engineers determine the right position for your gate, mitigating these concerns.
Predict Part Defects
The last thing you want is to send your mold to the final production phase, only for it to produce defective parts. Flow lines, sink marks, surface delamination, weld lines, short shots, warping, and jetting are all examples of common part defects. An analysis can help determine where these defects will occur so the engineer can eliminate them early on.
Allow for Design Adjustments
An analysis will help the engineer know exactly how your part will turn out before it even enters the injection molding floor. This means you’ll minimize errors and mistakes during the design process, which will save you time and money.
Reduce Clamp Tonnage
An optimized mold will reduce all restrictions and require only a minimum clamp load to secure the mold closed during the injection process. This will reduce the wear and tear on your mold and the injection molding machine.
Diminish Lead Time
Completing a moldflow analysis will catch errors early on, which means you’ll deal with less defects and time-consuming changes later. You’ll also reduce mold test cycles, which previously were a huge time commitment. In early years of injection molding, development could take months to find the optimum design through trial and error. The computerized system removes most or all of this trial time, increasing your speed-to-market.
Work with SEA-LECT Plastics for Your Injection Molding Needs
Since 1987, SEA-LECT Plastics has been providing high-quality injection molding and related services to a variety of industries. Our round-the-clock operations, dedicated engineering team, and global network of suppliers position us to take on even the most challenging projects.
Our state-of-the-art, 36,000-square-foot facility features 16 injection molding machines ranging from 33 to 600 tons. These machines, along with our in-house tool and die shop, Journeyman mold makers, and apprentices, allow us to meet your exact needs.
When you work with us, you know you’ll receive high-quality products and an enjoyable customer experience. We maintain an ISO 9001:2015 certification and regularly invite auditors to validate quality in real-time production. We’ve also worked to create a turnkey manufacturing process, allowing us to streamline our operations and ensure quality for all our customers.
Let’s Make Something Great Together
When you’re ready to start your injection molding project, we’ll be here to help. Reach out to us here to set up an initial consultation or request a quote here.