PREDICTING DISTORTION

ESI Group, a pioneer and supplier of digital simulation software for prototyping and manufacturing processes, recently developed an innovative software that enables the evaluation and control of welding distortion engineering at the early stage of preliminary design and planning.

This software, called Weld Planner, can considerably reduce time-to-production and save in production costs. This application represents a milestone in terms of simplicity. It provides access to welding-induced distortion simulation for people unfamiliar with finite elements simulation. User training is completed in just one day. The software includes fast generation or automatic finding of weld seams between parts, convenient definition of the welding sequence as a robot plan, typical industrial clamping conditions, and versatile possibilities for the visualization of computed distortion.

"This application is dedicated to product design and production planning. It enables you to control welding distortion of complex welded designs in less than one day, and consequently make significant savings in experimental try-out loops and distortion repair cost," explains Harald Porzner, ESI Group product manager. "You can literally manage your business on demand, from early feasibility to detailed weld design and weld quality evaluation."

This breakthrough is the result of many years of collaboration with Inpro GmbH, Volkswagen AG, Daimler AG, and ThyssenKrupp Technologies AG. The application fulfils a market need for quick simulation response and the availability of a needed database, which are critical to successful simulation, especially in the preliminary design phase.

"In the future, this will be integrated in product development at VW in Braunschweig. It has the potential to save one to two experimental loops, meaning 10,000 to 20,000 euros per part," notes Hans-Werner Scholz of the Volkswagen Braunschweig development department.

For more information, please contact: 
ESI Group,  French Technology Press Office, 205 North Michigan Avenue, Suite 3740, Chicago, IL 60601, 312-327-5260, www.esi-group.com.