Specify a Custom Parting Plane in Moldflow Plastics Insight® 5.0 (or higher)

In MPI® simulations, a parting plane is used to calculate projected area, which in turn influences the estimated clamp tonnage. MPI uses a default parting plane, which is defined as a plane parallel to the XY-plane (in other words, the mold-opening direction is parallel to the Z-axis). However, if your part is oriented such that the parting plane is not parallel to the XY-plane, then the estimated clamp force would be inaccurate.

To address this problem, two new features were introduced in MPI 5.0:

1. A three-point rotation tool now allows you to transform the part from its initial orientation such that the parting plane is parallel to XY-plane.

2. If you prefer not to change the orientation of the part, you can now specify a custom parting plane. This feature can be used after a Filling or Packing analysis has been completed.

How to specify custom parting plane:

For the example model shown (Figure 1), based on its orientation, it is clear that the parting plane is parallel to the YZ-plane (the mold open direction is parallel to X-axis).


Figure 1. Orientation of the model

Therefore, the estimated clamp tonnage using the default parting plane direction (parallel to the Z-axis) is grossly under predicted (Figure 2).



Figure 2. Clamp tonnage estimate using default parting plane

To obtain a more accurate clamp tonnage value, select Custom Plots Wizard from the Results menu. On the custom plots wizard dialog, select Clamp Force on Parting Plane. On the next dialog (Figure 3), select the correct mold open direction (which, for the example model is the X-axis).



Figure 3. Dialog to specify custom parting plane