Ansys Polyflow
Polymer Processing Simulation
Optimize Die Designs and Reduce Costs by Simulation instead of Shop Trials
Ansys Polyflow’s unique inverse die design capability can identify final die designs much faster than traditional build-and-test methods. This translates into substantial cost reduction and time savings.
Your team can improve the quality of blown and thermoformed products by running trial-and-error processes with Ansys Polyflow, rather than testing changes on the production line. You can also model the deformation of molten plastic pushed through an extrusion die – simulating the flow within the die, predicting the extrudate shape for a particular die and predicting the required die shape in order to obtain a desired extrudate shape.
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Ansys Polyflow accelerates design and optimisation of processes such as extrusion, thermoforming, blow molding, glass forming and fiber drawing, making your manufacturing processes more cost-effective and environmentally sustainable.
Key Benefits
Develop Better Packaging
Packaging is important to protect products from damage — but it is also a sustainability issue, as well as an additional cost to goods suppliers. Deploying virtual prototyping using Polyflow enables you to model the package manufacturing process. By coupling this solution with ANSYS structural products, your R&D team can evaluate and test a design’s behavior and durability. You can take corrective action at the design or manufacturing phase, or both, to quickly and cost-effectively design lighter packaging with better performance.
![Ansys Polyflow Develop Better Packaging](/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/ansys-polyflow-capability-develop-better-packaging.jpg)
Reduce Extrusion Die Costs
Ansys PolyFlow allows companies to virtually design and test extrusion dies. Users can simulate the extrusion process and automatically perform die shape optimization.
- Consider multiple design options making “what if” strategies easy
- Design dies faster
- Understand and eliminate flow related problems
- Reduce costs for engineering and extrusion line time, die fabrication, and scrap material
![Ansys Polyflow Extrusion Sample Animation](/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/ansys-polyflow-extrusion-sample-animation.gif)
Investigate Diverse Materials with Digital Material Laboratory Models
Ansys Polyflow includes a vast library of mathematical material models so you can understand and accurately characterize material behaviour. Simulation enables you to test the ability to process new resins, even before they have ever been produced, by comparing prototypes for different materials to see if they match or outperform existing and competitive materials. You can reverse-design a resin to maximize end-product performance while minimizing costs and environmental impact.
![Ansys Polyflow Investigate Diverse Materials with Digital Material](/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/ansys-polyflow-capability-investigate-diverse-materials-with-digital-material.jpg)
Account for Nonlinear Thermal Effects, Including Radiation
Ansys Polyflow models include viscous heating to allow you to detect potential deterioration of a polymer grade or undesired rubber curing. Accurate modelling of high-temperature processes, such as glass forming, requires the use of advanced nonlinear material properties, accurate radiation prediction (using, for example, the discrete ordinate radiation model) and the Narayanaswamy model that accounts for material stress relaxation during the cooling process.
![Ansys Polyflow Programming Extrusion Blow Molding Shell Elements](/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/ansys-polyflow-parison-programming-extrusion-blow-molding-shell-elements.gif)
Fluid-Structure Interaction
Polyflow includes native fluid–structure interaction (FSI) to model thermomechanical interactions between flowing materials and surrounding solids in a fully coupled approach. When large deformations occur within the elastic zone, the mesh resolution is automatically refined to improve the quality of results.
![Ansys Polyflow Fluid Structure Interaction](/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/ansys-polyflow-capability-fluid-structure-interaction.jpg)
Optimization and Design Exploration
Designing equipment and processes for best results involves evaluating multiple designs and optimising flow and geometric parameters. With Polyflow, you can declare any scalar as an optimization variable, including rheological parameters, boundary conditions and mesh displacements. Then you can use the built-in optimization algorithm to automatically minimize or maximize a given objective function based on input parameters.
![Ansys Polyflow Optimization and Design Exploration](/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/ansys-polyflow-capability-optimization-and-design-exploration.jpg)
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