Page 44 - MetalForming May 2015

What’s New in
Die Design
and Simulation
Software
BY LOUIS A. KREN, SENIOR EDITOR
With MetalForming magazine’s Die Design and Simulation Software Experience set for May 27-28, in Troy, MI, it is a good time to get up to speed on recent develop- ments in this technology. Read on for some updates.
Support Early On in Product Design
New in 2015 from Engineering Tech- nology Associates, Inc. (ETA) (www.eta.com), Troy, MI, Dynaform’s D-Eval Module was created especially to support and analyze CAD-based tooling and engineering designs. D- Eval is tailored to support engineers in the early stages of the product- design cycle, allowing them to take manufacturability into consideration ahead of the tooling stage. The CAE tools contained in D-Eval provide “What If” studies on tipping adjust- ments; binder generation and modifi- cations; morphing; drawbead layout; line-bead and geometry-bead conver- sion; addendum modifications; and die-design modifications. The module also enables CAM trim evaluation and trim-line checks.
D-Eval includes the IncSolver, devel- oped solely for simulating sheetmetal- forming processes and enabling gen-
eration of reliable forma- bility results in a reason- able timeframe, according to ETA officials.
Using shared-memory processing, users can take advantage of the multiple CPUs, multiple cores and multiple threads of the lat- est Windows computing platform, reportedly allow- ing for rapid and reliable results. In most cases with a four-core CPU, formabili- ty results reportedly can be generated within minutes.
Engineering Technology Associates’ D-Eval module in Dynaform includes IncSolver, developed for simulating metalforming processes and enabling generation of reli- able formability results in a reasonable timeframe.
42 MetalForming/May 2015
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IncSolver reportedly
works well with non-con-
nected mesh generated
from nonconforming CAD
surfaces, and directly interfaces with all major CAD systems. In addition, according to ETA officials, its features and functions are ideal for early-stage tooling evaluation.
er hidden problem areas and enables designers to optimize designs based on accurate LS-Dyna-based forming results.
The Trim Line Development add- on for FS provides multiple-stage trim- line development simulation. By using an iterative approach for simulating trimming during stamping, it ensures that the final trim-line result matches the target line.
The Rotary Tube Bending add-on allows users, through simulation, to
ETA also offers new add-ons for the Dynaform Formability Simulation (FS) module, including Trim Line Develop- ment, Hot Forming, Rotary Tube Bend- ing and Die Structure Cooling. The FS module facilitates rapid development and validation of single-station and progressive-die designs. It helps uncov-