Benefits of running injection mold simulation
No injection mold I have ever heard of was designed solely with software: there are just too many inter-related considerations. What's different now is that it's easier, quicker, less expensive and increasingly more indicative to use simulation to complement (NEVER, EVER replace) experience. We do well to remember that CAD can also mean computer-aided-disaster if in the hands of a CAD (computer-aided-dunce). Experience, insight and reliable tools (I mean here software tools) working together is a truly unbeatable combination.
Moldflow has been around for a third of a century and even in its first decade, I commissioned its use, in the hands of an expert and highly experienced injection mold designer to solve a molding problem that had jeopardized the main assembly line of a world-renowned automotive supplier. The injection mold in question had indeed been designed by highly experienced specialists, but they got it spectacularly wrong. The problem was simulated, tool modifications proposed and re-simulated, with promising results. The injection mold was physically modified in line with the simulated changes and immediately ran with effectively zero defects. Previously, convoys of taxis had to be reserved to ferry parts a round trip of over 800 km, just to keep the main line supplied with reduced numbers, as there had been at least 30% reject levels pre-modification. Now, THAT really was some experience!
Moldflow has been around for a third of a century and even in its first decade, I commissioned its use, in the hands of an expert and highly experienced injection mold designer to solve a molding problem that had jeopardized the main assembly line of a world-renowned automotive supplier. The injection mold in question had indeed been designed by highly experienced specialists, but they got it spectacularly wrong. The problem was simulated, tool modifications proposed and re-simulated, with promising results. The injection mold was physically modified in line with the simulated changes and immediately ran with effectively zero defects. Previously, convoys of taxis had to be reserved to ferry parts a round trip of over 800 km, just to keep the main line supplied with reduced numbers, as there had been at least 30% reject levels pre-modification. Now, THAT really was some experience!