Material Characterization in Inspire PolyFoam

Introduction

Foaming simulation is a niche technology used by many industries. The utilization of Foaming simulation is increasing like casting and other manufacturing simulations. Foaming manufacturing has different physics and fundamentals when it comes to material. Casting and Injection Molding materials are commonly used materials in the market to be used directly in simulation tools, however, the Foaming simulation relies on specific properties, chemical reactions, and recipes of the ingredients inside the material. Foam part manufacturers and material suppliers do not always share the recipe of material and their properties. Also, these properties vary based on manufacturer requirement and their need.

Problem Statement

In this article, we will look into the material creation method in Inspire PolyFoam 2024.1. The new version of Inspire PolyFoam comes with amazing functionality that allows users to create material on their own to run the simulation accurately.

Material Characterization

To perform the material characterization, the user will need to perform pre-steps for cup tests and obtain some property data to be inserted in the material characterization window as shown in the bottom image:

1. The user performs the cup test of the production material to generate rise vs time and temperature vs time data.
2. The user will have to gather the information requested in the first image like Basic Information, Test conditions, and Physical Blowing agent info if any.
3. Once obtained, these data can be used in the Inspire PolyFoam user interface to perform material characterization and creation of new material.

In Inspire PolyFoam, the user will have to start with a cup test simulation. As shown in the figure below, cup test details are required to be inserted.  Baseline material is selected and it will be used to rewrite the new material card after Characterization. Material characterization in Inspire PolyFoam is powered by Altair's HyperStudy in the back end.

Once the cup shape, end condition, percent fill, etc are defined, enable the material characterization and click on configure. This action opens up a dialogue box as shown in the image below:

In the material characterization window, baseline material is selected from the cup test. Now the user has to put the remaining properties, variable limits, and import curve datasets for Height vs Time and Temperature vs Time. Here, the Height curve is mandatory for material creation while the Temperature curve is not. Once the simulation is run for cup test after setup, it creates a new material card in the library matching the height and temperature curve and based on the properties inserted. 

Summary

Material characterization in the new Inspire PolyFoam is a great functionality for users. Users will be able to create multiple and accurate materials similar to their production as needed. Feature also offers to make quick runs to optimize the material will less number of iterations. If the number of variables is less, then only 50 or more optimization iterations in material characterization can help the user in creating new materials faster.