Dassault Systèmes unveils SolidWorks Plastics 2012
Dassault Systèmes today unveiled SolidWorks Plastics 2012, a new range of easy to use software tools that enable users to predict and avoid manufacturing defects during the earliest stages of plastics part and injection mold design.
The new platforms, SolidWorks Plastics Professional and SolidWorks Plastics Premium, are designed to simulate how melted plastic flows during the injection molding process to predict manufacturing related defects on parts and molds.
This means that users can quickly evaluate manufacturability while they design, to eliminate costly mold rework, improve part quality and accelerate time to market. A Results Adviser programme is also available to provide troubleshooting steps and practical design advice to help diagnose and solve potential problems.
Targeted at part designers, SolidWorks Plastics Professional is fully embedded within the SolidWorks CAD environment so that users can analyse and modify designs at the same time they optimise for form, fit, and function.
SolidWorks Plastics Premium, on the other hand, is designed to give anyone who designs or builds injection molds an accurate, easy to use way of optimising them.
According to the company, users can quickly create and analyse single cavity, multi cavity and family mold layouts, including sprues, runners, and gates. They can even balance runner systems and estimate cycle time, clamp tonnage and shot size, in order to optimise feed system design and avoid costly mold rework.
"The addition of SolidWorks Plastics into our product portfolio allows us to expand into new areas while following the traditional SolidWorks focus on ease of use and features that provide real benefits to customers," said Dassault's Monica Menghini. "The new offering provides designers fast, accurate and easy to use tools that make plastics simulation driven design a reality."
