Moldflow 2 Part 3 ppsx

Add Standard or User Defined components - Retrieved from standard catalogs, components such as screws, ejector pins, cooling lines, and so on, are added to complete the design of the mol

4 Add cavity inserts to the mold (for inserts that were not selected in the first step)

5 Add Standard or User Defined components - Retrieved from standard catalogs, components such as screws, ejector pins, cooling lines, and so on, are added to complete the design of the mold base You can define the characteristics of the components, including dimensions and location, and then place them into the mold base Also you can use any part created within SolidWorks as a User Defined component, functioning as if it was created as

a standard MoldWorks component

6 Modify Components and Mold size – By selecting a component or its

locating hole in one of the plates you can modify the parameters of a

component and/or groups of components Components can also be deleted or repositioned You can modify the attributes of the different mold base parts (i.e the information which is written into the BOM) A global change of the mold plate’s dimensions can be done at any stage of the mold design

process

7 Analyze the mold base with the collision utility, which allows you also to check thin walls

8 Output to the mold maker – You can output the CNC technology file as well

as the Bill of Materials (through the drafting routines) as an integral part of the production process In addition to the BOM information, you can create

detailed drawings using the SolidWorks drafting mode Plate geometry,

including all of its components, can be detailed and delivered to the mold maker for final mold production

1.6 Special Functions

In addition to the basic functionality, which was described in the previous section MoldWorks has special functions in order to allow you to create a complete mold including the following tools:

Add Plate: To add a standard or non-standard plate A part created by

SolidWorks can also be used as a plate In this way you can use MoldWorks

to design Progressive Dies, Blow Molds, Jigs and Fixtures, etc

Add User Part: You can use this tool to integrate the inserts into the mold

base You can also integrate user components i.e use any part created

within SolidWorks as a component In this way you can integrate components not included in the catalogues (i.e hot runners) and specific homemade components within the mold base

Utilities: To output CNC technological file, check collision or thin walls

between components, inserts and plate faces and hide or show all the

components in one action

Options: To set the names and colors of components and plates, colors of component holes and default catalogue as well as default mold type This information is stored in the registry to be used in subsequent mold creation

1.7 User Interface

MoldWorks uses a unique user interface so that you are guided through every step of the mold design process while allowing you to modify any step

previously defined without having to begin the process from scratch

Most of the menus (Except NEW MOLD which works under the New Property

Manager) display a control dialogue box from which the steps of the design

process are displayed Following is an example of the Add Component control

dialogue box:

The top level of the control box includes the

icons for the different steps to complete the task,

in this instance to add a component

The bottom level of the control dialogue box is

the same for all and includes the “Create”,

“Create and New”, and “Cancel” icons

This dialogue box is displayed throughout the

whole process

Each top-level icon displays a dialogue box

whose appearance depends on the step Here is

an example of the dialogue box displayed when

the first icon of this control dialogue box is

pushed (by default it opens immediately)

This dialogue box allows you to choose the

component that is to be created from the

component library

Every dialogue box has the icon

This icon guides you to the next step of the

design process Alternatively you may just press

the next icon in the top level of the control

dialogue box The steps can be created in any

order (if enough data exists) and any step that

you have already created can be accessed

through the top level at any time and modified before the process is complete

Once you have completed all the steps only the control dialogue box will remain displayed on the screen If you are satisfied with the parameters and data that you have entered in the dialogue boxes, (generally you will see a dynamic preview of the parts that are to be created), then activate the creation process using the following icons

Activate the process and close the control dialogue box

Activate the process and leave the control dialogue box displayed while initializing the data

Cancel the process and close all the dialogue boxes

NOTE:

The graphics we use in this User Guide have mixed styles between classic Windows 2000 and new Windows XP

1.8 MoldWorks FeatureManager Tree

The MoldWorks FeatureManager tree appears after an initial mold is created

through the MoldWorks > New Mold menu or by clicking on

The MoldWorks FeatureManager tree contains a Display Configuration

folder in order to organize the display or suppression of various mold

configurations and a Heat Exchange folder to organize the cooling cycles and

cooling cycle menus

1.8.1 Display Configuration

This folder is useful when adding components, since it allows you to

concentrate on the specific display suitable to the component being created MoldWorks only cuts the plates (or inserts), which are visible (and of course not suppressed) Parts which are not visible are not taken into account when adding components, helping to achieve better performance Furthermore parts which are suppressed are not resident in memory, which is useful when working on complex molds

MoldWorks automatically displays (or resolves) mold parts when necessary (i.e when modifying components plates or inserts will be resolved and/or displayed if relevant)

The Display Configuration tab allows you to easily create SolidWorks

Configurations

After the creation of an initial mold base MoldWorks adds a “Display

Configuration” folder to the MoldWorks FeatureManager tree allowing the

user to Show Only/Resolve Only different configurations of the mold

assembly using the RHM button menu

1.8.2 Heat Exchange

This folder organizes the data (in folder form) and the menus enabling you to

create and modify cooling cycles There are three levels of folders under the Heat Exchange heading:

Data

• Cooling Cycle for each cooling cycle defined

• Pipe name for each pipe segment with the Cycle

• Component name for each component connected to a pipe

Selecting a folder or component will highlight the relevant geometry on the screen

Menus

The complete menu environment for the Heat Exchange functionality is

accessed from the MoldWorks FeatureManager by clicking the RHM button

on the relevant folders, cycles/pipes or components

The Heat Exchange folder accesses the Insert Cycle… menu to begin the process (also available through the MoldWorks > Insert Cycle… or relevant icon.) and the Settings menu to define parameter values for subsequent use

RHM button on the Cooling Cycle folder accesses the following menus:

These menus are used to manage the Cooling Cycle data

The Pipe and Component environment have their own context sensitive

menus:

RHM click on a pipe segment

RHM click on a component

Check out the Modification section in the Heat Exchange chapter for detailed menu descriptions

2

2 Mold Base

The MoldWorks > Mold Base > Coordinate System menu or relevant icon

enables you to define the mold base coordinate system, i.e the direction of the plate assembly

The MoldWorks > Add User Part… menu or relevant icon allows you to define the inserts to be included within the mold base

The MoldWorks > Mold Base > New Mold menu or relevant icon creates

the initial mold base

Prior to this stage you should have created the core and cavity inserts by using

SplitWorks™ or the standard SolidWorks™ tools, or by importing external

geometry, in any case an initial mold can only be created within a previously

saved assembly The inserts must be coherent SolidWorks™ parts or

sub-assemblies

The initial mold base can be created with or without components by adjusting

the Type: parameter in the dialogue box to Standard, Non-Standard or

Plates Only respectively The Non-Standard and Plates Only types allow the

user to change the mold dimensions (width and length) as well MoldWorks standard mold base is based on a 9 plate standard mold as defined in the

commercial mold industry catalogues

With the Change Mold Type icon a standard Mold Base of 7 or 8 plates can be created by setting the clamping plate, of the static side, thickness to zero

(MoldWorks Plate1) and/or by setting the thickness of the support plate to zero (MoldWorks Plate9)

Once you have a suitable mold size the mold plates, initial components are automatically created according to the selected catalogue definitions

2.1 Coordinate System

This is the Mold Coordinate System dialogue box which appears when the MoldWorks > Mold Base > Coordinate System menu or relevant icon is picked, allowing you to define the plane and the origin on which the mold base will be created

Selected Plane/Coordinate System:

Choose a Plane or Coordinate System on which to create the mold base

The default is Plane 2

- Plane The Mold Direction is defined as the positive normal to the selected Plane and the Mold Origin is the default origin of the assembly

- Coordinate System The Mold Direction is defined as the z-direction and

the Mold Origin as the origin of the Coordinate System

Origin Placement

Type the value that will determine the origin of the plates from the origin as

determined in the previous section Defaults to (0,0)

Rotate

Rotate the Coordinate System in the plane by increments of 90 degrees

Z Axis flip

Flip the direction of the Coordinate System relative to the Selected Plane

This menu (icon) is available only before creation of a new mold base The Coordinate System of the mold base may not be modified after the mold has been created

2.2 New Mold

This is the New Mold dialogue box, which appears when the MoldWorks > Mold Base > New Mold menu or relevant icon is picked, which allows creation

of the initial mold base

A preview of the mold base is displayed and

dynamically updated each time a parameter is

modified The current display is automatically

adjusted to fit the mold base The Dialogue Box is

divided into the following groups:

Catalogue group defines the catalogue

specifications

Thickness group accesses the thickness for each

plate

Mold Dimensions group to define the plate layout

dimensions (Non-Standard and Plates Only)

Options group controls which of the initial

components will be created

Estimation group accesses the Plate rules (Cores

and/or cavities have been defined through the

MoldWorks > Add User Part menu)

Injection Machine allows the display of both the

Standard and User Defined Injection Machines

Groups are accessed exclusively; only one tab can

be open at any time

Following is a detailed description of the New Mold

dialogue parameters according to the different

groups

Catalogue

Name: Window to select specific mold base library All

the catalogues for the specific unit (i.e mm or inch)

will be displayed You will be able to load ONLY the

catalogues for which you are licensed

The catalogue you choose when creating the initial

mold base will be the default catalogue for this mold; a

different catalogue may be designated each time a

new component is created

Series: Select specific series (displayed only if

different series for this catalogue exist)

Type:

Specify which type of initial mold base you require:

Standard is with initial components and initial

component holes

Non-Standard the same as Standard allows the user

to define the Mold Dimensions as well

Plates Only creates only the plates and the sketches

defining the standard positioning This option is useful

when a non-standard mold base is required

Click on this button to change the plate configuration

The plate configurations depend on the selected catalogue Here is an

example of the plate configurations for the Training catalogue

Dimensions:

Choose a standard dimension from the available list by picking in the scrollable list that is displayed when pointing to the arrow on the right-hand side of the

Dimension box The list will contain the standard mold base sizes as defined

in the chosen catalogue For each standard dimension there is a set of plate

thickness, which is automatically updated and shown in the Plate Thickness

parameter box