VISI Flow - Green Inside

Located next to Lake Bienne on the French - Swiss border, Domteknika SA is a service company providing technical and strategic assistance to world leaders in the automotive, household appliance, packaging and other design industries.

Formed in 1999 by Jean-Luc Thuliez, the company is actively interested and heavily involved in improving design and production methods to benefit the environment and minimise ecological impact. Specifically they have researched the impact in design to cost analysis, tooling, plastics & polymers engineering and prototyping through their Research & Development group.

One such project was an eco-friendly car that not only produced zero emissions but equally as important, was also recyclable with minimal environmental impact.

Working on a project commissioned by the Poitou Charente region, Domteknika worked in partnership with DiedreDesign and Induct to create the REDIGO-SOFTCAR, an eco-friendly car both in terms of pollution, manufacturing and recycling. After much interest at the recent Mondial de l'automobile show, it is hoped the car will soon be in production.

Recycling
"The REDIGO-SOFTCAR certainly fulfils the criteria of the eco-concept vehicle originally presented to us", explains Jean-Luc Thuliez. "The concept of zero emission vehicles is an important topic and one that is high on the agenda for many automotive companies. However, for this project, the tailpipe pollution was not the only ecological constraint taken into account. The objective of the project was to produce a car where the benefit to the environment was split between the reduction in carbon emissions and the eventual recycling of the vehicle. Other fundamentals of the project included the classic research for manufacturers to reduce costs, and the increasing demands of emerging markets to launch very low-cost vehicles. However, the batteries for fuel-cell vehicles are still very expensive and will represent a significant part of the cost for some years to come."

The REDIGO-SOFTCAR.

While continuing to protect the planet, Domteknika also develops an "electric monster" with extraordinary acceleration and a top speed approaching 260 kph.

Reduction of material use
Domteknika placed major emphasis on dramatically reducing of the number of materials used in the construction of the eco-friendly REDIGO-SOFTCAR. The largest reduction could be found in the number of thermoplastic polymers used.

A simple examination of the dashboard from a typical vehicle highlights the number of different polymers used during production. The dismantling of individual pieces and the sorting of materials for recycling can be long and expensive process. It doesn't make sense to produce a zero emission car if the manufacturing and recycling costs are too high, diluting the environmental benefits.

"It is an original exercise," explains Jean-Luc Thuliez. "No study has been pushed so far in a vehicle design based on such a criteria. However, to reach the goal, it was necessary for us to guarantee that the design of components and their production were also fully optimized. We not only had to analyse the geometry but also the simulation of the plastic injection process".

The procedure of correctly predicting component or moulding failures is vital, especially for passenger safety. Head impact is a major issue for the automotive industry and an example of how model analysis can be so valuable would be in the area surrounding airbag deployment. Industry requirements ensure that no weld lines can be present on the plastic moulding within 50mm of airbag deployment because these indicate weak stress points that may fail under crash testing - the result would be plastic shards around the passenger space. If this single component fails a crash test, the result is new CAD models and a new suite of tooling.

Already equipped with 3D CAD technology, Domteknika made several bench mark tests on software solutions for plastic injection simulation. After extensive testing, and following advice from plastics technology expert, Yves Lozach, Domteknika purchased VISI Flow from Vero Software in December 2008.

VISI Flow - Three times faster
Although relatively new to plastic injection simulation, the assessment of VISI Flow is already positive for Jean-Luc Thuliez: "The advice, training and support has been excellent from both the Vero team and Afcoplast (www.afcoplast.com). We have learnt not only how to use the software, but have also began to understand how moulding parameters and mould & part design influence the failure of injection moulded plastic parts. The software has proved itself to be fast, accurate, and most importantly, very complete. We currently use all VISI Flow options because it is essential for us to ensure that our design choices are compatible with the materials being used within the optimal moulding conditions. We often have to test different thermoplastic solutions, so the setup and calculation times of VISI Flow are a big advantage as they do not add major delays to our development time. After the results of the plastic simulation, we often have to make changes to the CAD models to compensate for moulding issues. VISI Flow allows us to predict potential manufacturing problems with devilish precision allowing the maximum possible time frame for a corrective solution."

Etienne Crozier, Development Engineer at Domteknika further explains the benefits of plastic injection simulation. "In plastics processing industry, we are often in the habit of trying to put ourselves into the material to better understand what takes place during moulding and how the material reacts under pressure. With the help of VISI Flow, we can now give a clear and ultra-precise analysis to the mould maker. We can even guarantee the results with the selected polymer."   

VISI Flow is being used to maximum capacity by the team at Domteknika - from filling simulation, through warpage, weld line & air trap detection and ultimately to determine the optimal gating position.

Jean-Luc Thuliez concludes, "With the help of VISI Flow, we are working three times faster than our competitors - and with a major technical advantage

Vero  in profile
Headquartered in England, Vero Software designs, develops, and supplies CAD/CAM/CAE software that radically enhances the efficiency of design and manufacturing processes. It is a leading supplier within key sectors of the CAD/CAM/CAE industry such as plastic injection moulds and progressive dies, providing its customers with exceptional value through high productivity gains and significantly reducing time to market. Vero is represented in over 40 countries by more than 80 distributors. In addition to its extensive dealer network, it has its own direct sales operations in the UK, USA, Canada, France, Italy, China, and Japan. The company has more than 24,000 seats installed worldwide.

For further information, e-mail: marc@vero.co.uk or view website: www.vero-software.com   Refer to page 195

Remarkable refacing tool for hard to reach pipe flanges

Hydratight brings high-tech, cost-effective design to a remarkable refacing tool for hard to reach pipe flanges whose integrity must be maintained. (Refer to picture on the right).

The ultra-light, ultra-portable QuickFace is a new HAND-POWERED refacing tool that retains the accuracy and performance of the bigger air- and electrically-powered cousins in Hydratight's extensive range.

Supremely portable, QuickFace turns a two-man operation with heavy equipment, compressors or portable generators into a one-man job that can be undertaken a where a technician can physically reach - whether at the top of a refinery installation or miles from the nearest power supply.

The QuickFace tool weighs only 6.8kg (15lbs) -- and in its storage case with interchangeable collets and lead screws is a mere 15kg (33lbs), despite which it can reface flange surfaces on pipes from 1in-4in with ease, using standard half-inch cutting tools.

"Many flanges have to be refaced in-situ without readily-available power, because the flange is difficult or inaccessible. Sometimes such a repair simply isn't cost effective - and that means taking a gamble on future integrity," said Hydratight global support engineer, Alan Jones.

"About 90 per cent of all flanged joint leaks are on pipes in the 1" - 4" range - exactly what QuickFace is designed for. Many leaks are caused by poor joint-surface finish. Correcting this usually involves finding a resurfacing machine and competent technicians - and having the time to complete the job.

"QuickFace is small enough to be a permanent addition to any technical equipment store. The alternative may be transporting teams and equipment by helicopter and running generators or compressors - all at much greater expense, where they are available at all."

Hydratight engineers have pared weight but not features: the system has interchangeable lead screws that make it suitable for resurfacing damaged raised-face and lens-ring joint flanges to the varying standards of finish demanded of standard and compact flange designs.

QuickFace operation couldn't be easier: after selecting the correct sized collets and lead screw for the operation, the tool body is inserted in the pipe end, centring itself with adjustable collets and clamps to provide truly concentric operation and accuracy.

The tool arm is then rotated by hand, a worm-gear mechanism providing a perfect spiral "gramophone" finish. The tool can be adjusted with a calibrated slide to define cut-depth and the correct finish.

"Having QuickFace on site removes the need to gamble on the quality of a joint's surface finish," said Alan. "A tradesman on site can do the job in the same time as a team using traditional tools - and produce a finish well within specification. It's a perfect solution to a genuine problem."

For more information about Hydratight's new QuickFace flange-facing tool, email: QuickFace@hydratight.com or to see it in action, view website: www.hydratight.com