SOLIDWORKS Plastics Training Course Overview
The SOLIDWORKS Plastics training course teaches you how to use specialized simulation software tools to predict how melted plastic flows during the injection molding process. Predicting how the plastic will flow enables you to predict manufacturing defects such as weld lines, air traps, short shots, and sink marks.
By predicting these defects, you can change the part or mold geometry, the processing conditions, or the plastic material itself to eliminate or minimize them, saving energy, material, time, and money.
The SOLIDWORKS Plastics course covers all the features and functions of both SOLIDWORKS Plastics Professional (for part designers) and SOLIDWORKS Plastics Premium (for mold designers).
Course Preview
Take a look at some of the studies you will be conducting in the SOLIDWORKS Plastics course
Sink Marks
Cooling Analysis
SOLIDWORKS Plastics Course
Analyzing Thin Walled Parts
Weld Lines & Air Gaps
Shrinkage study
SOLIDWORKS Plastics Course Requirements & Benefits
Understand the course requirements and the skills you will acquire after completing the SOLIDWORKS course
SOLIDWORKS Plastics Lessons
The following lessons are included in the course
Lesson 1: Basic Flow Analysis
- Basic Flow Analysis
- Stages in the Process
- Units
- Element Types
- Shell Elements
- Solid Elements
- Manual or Automatic
- Meshing
- The PlasticsManager Tree
- Material
- Polymer
- Using the Databases
- Machines
- Injection Location
- Running a Flow Analysis
- Flow
- Pack
- Warp
- Cool
- Flow Results
- Fill Time
- Weld Lines
- Results Adviser
- Exercise 1: Basic Flow Analysis
Lesson 2: Detecting a Short Shot
- Detecting Short Shots
- Stages in the Process
- Fill Settings
- Definition Fill Setting Parameters
- Filling Time and Injection Pressure Considerations
- Report Text File
- Flow Front Central Temperature
- Pressure at End of Fill
- Design Changes
- Plastics to Modeling
- Modeling to Plastics
- Thickness Change
- Simulations After Design Changes
- Exercise 2: Short Shots
Lesson 3: Automation Tools
- Automation Tools
- Stages in the Process
- Duplicate Study
- Copying Settings
- Plastics File Management
- Batch Manager
- Batch Controls
- Summary and Report
- Exercise 3: Design Changes
Lesson 4: Injection Locations and Sink Marks
- Injection Locations and Sink Marks
- Stages in the Process
- Injection Location Rules
- Positioning the Injection Location
- Single vs Multiple Injection Locations
- Modeling for Injection Locations
- Automatic Injection Location Selection
- Predict Flow Pattern
- Sink Marks
- Measure
- Minimizing Sink Marks in Ribs
- Nominal Wall Thickness Advisor
- Exercise 4: Minimizing Sink Marks (1)
- Exercise 5: Minimizing Sink Marks (2)
Lesson 5: Materials
- Material Properties
- Stages in the Process
- User-defined Database
- Material
- Resin Properties
- Temperature Properties
- Melt Temperature
- Mold Temperature
- Part Ejection Temperature
- Glass Transition Temperature
- Heat Transfer Properties
- Specific Heat
- Thermal Conductivity
- Viscosity
- PVT Data
- Mechanical Properties
- Thermal Expansion Coefficient
- Elastic Modulus
- Poisson’s Ratio
Lesson 6: Mesh Manipulation
- Mesh Manipulation
- Stages in the Process
- Local Refinement of Mesh
- Mesh Density
- Gradation
- Element Issues
- Mesh Editing
- Mesh
- Mesh Analysis
- Mesh Triangles
- Mesh Nodes
- Leader Lines
- Solid Mesh
- Solid and Shell Mesh
- Solid Mesh Types
- Tetrahedral Elements
- Hexahedral Elements
- Exercise 6: Mesh Repairs
Lesson 7: Detecting Air Traps
- Detecting Air Traps
- Stages in the Process
- Air Traps
- Dieseling Effect
- Plot Ranges
- Thickness Analysis
- Venting
- Venting Analysis
- Venting Locations
- Exercise 7: Air Traps
Lesson 8: Gate Blush
- Gate Blush
- Stages in the Process
- Runner Elements
- Domains
- Gate Blush
- Shear Stress
- Reducing Gate Blush
Lesson 9: Packing and Cooling Times
- Packing and Cooling
- Stages in the Process
- Flow/Pack Switch
- Pack Stage
- Pack Settings
- Pack Analysis
- Pack Results
- X-Y Plot
- Volumetric Shrinkage at End of Packing
- Cooling Times
- Temperature at Post-Filling End
- Nodal Temperature
- Exercise 8: Packing and Cooling Times
Lesson 10: Reducing Cooling Times
- Reducing Cooling Time
- Stages in the Process
- Multiple Injection Locations
- Clipping Plane Mode
- Jetting
- Exercise 9: Optimizing Cooling Time
Lesson 11: Multiple Cavity Molds
- Multiple Cavity Molds
- Stages in the Process
- Mold Layouts
- Channel Design
- Runner Channel Design
- Runner Types
- Element Count
- Searching for Polymers
- Runner Wizard Channel Design
- Family Mold Layout
- Using Runner-Balancing
- Exercise 10: Multiple Cavity Molds
- Exercise 11: Runner-Balancing
Lesson 12: Symmetry Analysis
- Symmetry Analysis
- Stages in the Process
- Case Study1
- Case Study2
- Symmetry Face
Lesson 13: Valve Gates and Hot Runners
- Valve Gates and Hot Runners
- Stages in the Process
- Hot Runners
- Valve Gates
Lesson 14: Reaction Injection Molding
- Reaction Injection Molding
- Stages in the Process
- Reaction Injection Molding
Lesson 15: Using Inserts
- Using Inserts
- Stages in the Process
- Cavities and Inserts
- Materials for Inserts
- Insert Settings
- Hiding Cavities and Inserts
Lesson 16: Multi Shot Mold
- Multi Shot Mold
- Stages in the Process
- Multi Shot Mold
- Domain Order
Lesson 17: Gas Assistance Molding
- Using Inserts
- Stages in the Process
- Gas Assist
- Material Selection
Lesson 18: Cooling Analysis
- Cooling Analysis
- Stages in the Process
- Cooling
- Cooling Channels and Mold Bodies
- Coolant
- Mold
- Cool Settings
- Cooling Simulations
- Cool Flow Field
- Cool Pipe
- Coolant Entrance
- Mold Wall Temperature
- Cool Analysis
- Cool
- Cool Results
- Baffle
- Bubbler
- Exercise 12: Cooling Analysis
Lesson 19: Warpage Analysis
- Warpage Analysis
- Stages in the Process
- Shrinkage
- Reducing Shrinkage
- Warpage
- Warp Settings
- Warp Results
- Reducing and Fixing Warped Parts
- Thermal Contributions to Warping
- Typical Warp Shapes
- Residual Stress
Upcoming Training Courses
Choose a scheduled SOLIDWORKS Plastics course
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