Engel expands range of applications for sim link. The interface for exchanging data between the simulation program and injection moulding machine now also works with the CADMOULD simulation program by SIMCON. During Fakuma 2021 from 12 to 16 October in Friedrichshafen, Engel is demonstrating how sim link accelerates sampling injection moulds and optimising injection moulding processes, while at the same time boosting productivity.
In the digital solutions expert corner at the Engel trade fair stand in Hall A5, a video shows door components for the vehicle interior being produced on a duo injection moulding machine in a family mould: an inner door panel, a map pocket with speaker cover and a reinforcement element. "Every processing firm knows how time-consuming it is to determine the optimum process settings for such a complex mould," says Paul Kapeller, Head of Product Management Digital Solutions at Engel. "The basis for this is established before the mould is sampled – in the simulation."
sim link combines simulation with the real world. New: Engel now also offers the interface for the CADMOULD simulation program.
Optimise faster – produce more
The first step is virtual. The injection of the polypropylene melt into the three cavities of the family mould is optimised on the basis of the actual performance data of the machine intended for sampling the mould and the material. In the second step, the process settings determined in the simulation are transferred from the simulation program to the control unit of the duo injection moulding machine via sim link as an initial setting data set. This means that good parts can be produced within a very short time.
In the third step, sim link takes this even further. In series production, the optimised processing settings, process parameters and measurement results from the machine can be stored in order to import them back into the simulation program. Simulation becomes a tool for continuous process analysis and optimisation. As a result, sim link enhances the quality of the simulation, while the sampling process and process optimisation are significantly accelerated and productivity increases.
Using simulation results throughout the entire life cycle
"sim link simplifies cooperation between simulation experts and the process engineers," as Kapeller explains. "This is how we ensure that the findings from the simulation are actually used in the real world. Because that is precisely what has often not been the case up to now."
Engel presented sim link for the first time at K 2019. Initially, the software was available for Autodesk's Moldflow simulation program. Following positive customer feedback and due to increasing demand, Engel is now expanding the range of applications to include the CADMOULD simulation software from SIMCON.
sim link runs with both simulation programs on all Engel injection moulding machines from the CC200 and CC300 control unit generations.
