Altair Partner Alliance Solution
How To: Create a New Part That Reduces Material
Usage and Optimizes The Design For Casting
Use the straightforward user interface of solidThinking Inspire to leverage Altair’s
industry proven structural optimization technology to achieve the lightest design and
create a part optimized for casting using the Click2Cast simulation software. Invoke
Inspire and Click2Cast at no incremental cost utilizing existing HyperWorks units.
Key Highlights
Product Profiles
Challenge:
solidThining Inspire enables design
Create a new part that reduces material usage
and optimizes the design for casting.
Use the straightforward user interface of
solidThinking Inspire to leverage Altair’s industry
proven structural optimization technology to
achieve the lightest design and create a part
optimized for casting using the Click2Cast
simulation software. Invoke Inspire and
Click2Cast at no incremental cost utilizing
existing HyperWorks units.
engineers, product designers, and architects to
create and investigate structurally efficient
concepts quickly and easily. Traditional
structural simulations allow engineers to check if
a design will support the required loads. Inspire
enhances this process by generating a new
material layout within a package space using the
loads as an input. The software is easy to learn
and works with existing CAD tools to help design
structural parts right the first time, reducing
costs, development time, material consumption,
and product weight.
Benefits:
Click2Cast is a casting process simulation
• Access to tools on demand
• Ability to handle all simulation tasks with a
single licensing system
• Control of software expenses and access
software developed around the concept of
EASYmulation that allows the user to enhance
and optimize their manufactured components
avoiding typical casting defects, such as air
entrapment, porosity, cold shots, etc. thanks to
the simple and quick mold filling simulation.
Altair Solution:
Inspire and Click2Cast
How do you develop, optimize and
produce a new part with the highest
performance and lowest cost, without
increased investment in simulation
software?
After an initial optimization has been run,
manufacturing and shape controls can be
applied to the geometry to affect the topology
result. For this example, symmetry and draw
direction controls have been used.
First, solidThinking Inspire, available as part of
Altair’s HyperWorks suite, is used to find the
best geometry for the new part. The existing
geometry is modified to create “design spaces”.
These represent the maximum volume a part
can occupy. Some areas can be identified as
“non-design space”, and these regions will not
be modified during the optimization.
Result of a topology optimization with manufacturing
constraints
The design proposal results can be exported
and refined in an external CAD package. By
generating the optimal design geometry in
solidThinking Inspire the design cycle time,
material consumption and product weight are
reduced.
Design space (in yellow color) and non-design space
(in gray color)
After design space and non-design space has
been defined the model is configured to only
keep the parts relevant to the optimization.
Loads and supports are added to the model.
Before and after the process.
Configured model with loads.
An initial optimization is run to obtain the optimal
shape of the part
After obtaining the part design by using Inspire,
it is necessary to perform several analyses of
the manufacturing process to ensure that the
production process and the final part will be free
of defects. Click2Cast, available through the
Altair Partner Alliance, will perform this process.
This simulation software for the casting process
allows the user to test different possibilities for
the process and mold design in a short time.
The first stage on the design is to set up the
material In-Gate position.
By using Click2Cast, this task is really simple.
Just define the size and position the In-Gate will
be placed.
3 iterations have been performed to determine
the optimum size and location of the material
inlet, taking approximately 3 hours in total.
Result of an initial topology optimization
Inspire and Click2Cast
In-Gate definition Stage in Click2Cast
Material temperature profile during mold filling
After analyzing the results, first and second InGate positions generate large turbulences and
an inhomogeneous filling, creating many
bubbles that generate porosity problems.
Mold filling evolution.
Material evolution for the 3rd filling iteration.
With the third iteration, the In-Gate position has
been achieved. A good solution to fill this part
was found while avoiding the air trapped
problems at the center of the part.
Once it has been decided, the In-Gate size and
position as well as the final filling running system
have been designed.
After 5 simulations, the final definition for the
mold and casting process has been finished.
The entire process took less than 12 hours,
considering the calculation time.
Finally, we have obtained a geometry optimized
according to their response structural and mold
design and filling process. As a result, the
manufacturers are able to obtain components
without internal defects, which reduce their
resistance.
This workflow has been created to aid in the
design of new components to avoid unnecessary
loss of time and money.
Final Running system design.
Simulation results with the filling system shows
different areas with air entrapment. This
information is useful to locate overflows and
positions to avoid oxide and air entrapments.
Once the final design for the mold is achieved,
filling and solidification simulations can be run to
make the final test and validation of the process.
Air entrapments and overflow effectiveness.
With no incremental cost, using existing
HyperWorks units. We have been able to use
solidThinking Inspire and Click2Cast simulation
software to create a new part that reduces
material usage and optimizes the design for
casting.