Designfax weekly eMagazine

Subscribe Today!

Archives

View Archives

Partners

Manufacturing Center
Product Spotlight

Modern Applications News
Metalworking Ideas For
Today's Job Shops

Tooling and Production
Strategies for large
metalworking plants

BASF offers new service: Foam-fill simulation of polyurethane systems for automotive interiors

BASF now offers an additional service for polyurethane systems in automotive interiors. BASF's Ultrasim simulation tool has been expanded so that the behavior of polyurethane (PU) systems during foaming can now be reliably predicted for both open and closed molds. The new service has proven especially successful with instrument panels made with the Elastoflex E semi-rigid system.

The international automotive supplier Yanfeng Automotive Interiors is using the virtual process design for the instrument panels it manufactures for current models such as the BMW X1. Based on the CAE model for each panel and a new material description of the semi-rigid system within Ultrasim, a foam-fill simulation is created, which allows the customer to spot potential problems with the design and manufacturing of the component before the mold is made. Using this technique, Elastoflex E instrument panels can be developed faster, their production process can be sped up, and costs can be reduced.

Instrument panels are safety-relevant, large, and complex components that vehicle makers approve individually for each car model. During manufacturing, the foaming process is crucial to ensure that carrier, skin, PU foam, and the respective airbag design combine to produce a harmonious component. In addition to BASF's established technical support, with Ultrasim the PU foam can be manufactured efficiently according to process and part. The crucial aspect is that the process design already begins at an early, purely virtual phase of the project. For customers, this is a significant step toward cutting project times and optimizing mold-design and planning-development work in a cost-effective and holistic way.

Simulation adds value especially in early project phases
Within BASF's simulation tool, the manufacturing process for the component is an integral part of the calculation of the component behavior. Ultrasim contains tailor-made material models for PU systems, so that the injection, foaming, and hardening of the polyurethane can be precisely predicted. The analysis takes into account the typical properties of the relevant materials: the temperature-dependent reaction process and foam formation as well as the resulting density profile and flowability during foaming. This makes it possible to generate a location-independent calculation of the foaming process, from injection via the complete mold filling to the final part density.

Setting the right process parameters is just as important as having an exact description of the material behavior. Foam-fill simulation allows the injection position, the route of the mixing head, and the orientation of the mold to be analyzed, but also flow aids, venting designs, and closing times. That's really neat, because now the foaming process in both open and closed molds becomes transparent and can be examined with a virtual magnifying glass.

For closed-mold processes, the simulation results can be used to evaluate different injection designs to prevent things like air voids and weld lines. For open molds, Ultrasim can run a series of virtual simulations to optimize injection lines for the PU system. The simulation especially adds value in the early phase of a project, because it generally reduces development times. And if the simulation detects a problem, customers can adjust part geometry and venting designs at no extra cost.

The new simulation service is currently being used in customer projects for other components such as engine hoods and steering wheels (for integral and flexible foams). The medium-term goal is to use Ultrasim to determine the ideal processing parameters of all PU systems for a mold but also to gain insight into the ideal PU system for a given mold. Achieving this will require not only a virtual map of the foam process, but also a reliable simulation of selected mechanical part properties -- a service that BASF has already applied successfully in customer projects dealing with fiber-reinforced engineering plastics for many years.

See BASF at K fair from October 19-26, 2016, in Dusseldorf, Germany, in Hall 5, booth C21/D21.

Source BASF

Published September 2016

Rate this article