Plazology
Before and after shots of part optimisation
UK-based Plazology Ltd has launched a new simulation product design service aimed at closing the gap between the virtual and physical manufacturing worlds and significantly reducing the risks to successful product launches.
By enabling verification of a plastic part’s design, manufacturability and quality earlier in the development stages, Plazology says its new Virtual Design Moulding Analysis (VDMA), addresses the many challenges to be met during the creation of plastic components.
“VDMA is like having a virtual, remote plastic engineering squad as part of your design team dedicated to supporting product launches,” said Plazology’s Shaun Mollon.
Current market forces command reduced development costs, more complex designs and shorter lead times. Recognising a need to confront these demands, VDMA enables designers and manufacturers to design, visualise and simulate products, from the conceptual design phase, right through to manufacture, reducing the need for costly physical prototypes.
Plazology says the use of VDMA can not only provide an excellent end product for customers, but can also address additional company objectives, such as providing accurate quoting for jobs, more precise estimations of cycle times, eradication of production errors and process inefficiencies such as wasted materials.
In addition, it says the VDMA service allows its customers to create better plastic components with less design loops. It provides a greater understanding of potential part/mould quality defects before the mould is manufactured, producing a comprehensive mould layout, with every concern risk- assessed to give to the mould maker. VDMA enables early decisions on the most appropriate cooling layout prior to mould manufacturing, using simulation to provide accurate results for heat transfer, Reynold numbers and cooling efficiencies.
“Importantly,” Mollon concluded, “it allows clients to have far greater confidence that the T1 trials will be more successful than before. The need for multiple processing trials, to modify and adjust is greatly reduced, saving both time and money.”