Product category:
Materials design and moulding design software
News Release from: Vistagy
Edited by the Engineeringtalk Editorial
Team on 16 May 2002
Partnership to simulate resin transfer
moulding
Vistagy and ESI Group have signed a partnership agreement for composites modelling.
Vistagy and ESI Group have signed a partnership agreement for composites modelling The companies have provided data integration between Vistagy's FiberSIM software, which engineers use to design composite parts, and PAM-RTM (formerly LCMFLOT), an advanced simulation software for liquid composite moulding (LCM) from ESI Group
This article was originally published on Engineeringtalk on 15 May 2008 at 8.00am (UK)
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Engineering organisations that design and manufacture composite products will reduce development times, the costs of engineering changes, and material waste as a result of the partnership.
Liquid composite moulding processes such as resin transfer moulding (RTM) are increasingly popular in the automotive, aerospace, medical, and sporting goods industries.
These processes simplify and speed up the manufacture of composite parts.
Resin transfer moulding involves infusing resin into a mould cavity filled with a preform of reinforcing fibres.
In moulds with complex shapes, the fibres can deviate and compact unevenly during draping, which creates areas of varying permeability that slow or stop the flow of resin.
FiberSIM software provides a complete design environment for composite parts, including a draping simulation tool that generates accurate data on fibre orientations.
The software then provides this data to PAM-RTM software, which models the flow of resin around the preform fibres.
The integration of FiberSIM and PAM-RTM software enables engineers to predict and correct potential moulding difficulties without needing to rely on extensive physical prototyping.
V Chaillou of ESI Group says, "At ESI Group we have a commitment to creating software tools that accurately represent prototyping and manufacturing processes.
Our alliance with Vistagy allows our PAM-RTM software to generate even more realistic moulding simulations that eliminate costly trial-and-error procedures for composites design".
"This partnership allows us to reach an entirely new group of customers", says Steve Luby, President and CEO of Vistagy, "and to offer designers working with liquid composite moulding processes a capability that they did not have before.
In many instances, resin transfer moulding is the least expensive process for manufacturing with composite materials.
Now that we provide a complete digital product definition that allows faithful simulation of resin injection processes, composites will become an attractive choice in a variety of applications".
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