Home >> Resources/Information >> Feed Screw Software
Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software lets you analyze your fluid flow problems in detail, faster than testing, at an earlier stage in the design cycle, for less money and with lower risk.
Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software lets you analyze your fluid flow problems in detail, faster than testing, at an earlier stage in the design cycle, for less money and with lower risk.
Numerical simulation allows you to predict fluid flow, heat and mass transfer, chemical reaction and related phenomena. By solving the fundamental equations governing fluid flow processes, simulation provides information on important flow characteristics such as pressure loss, flow distribution and mixing rates. Numerical simulation complements traditional testing and experimentation, providing you with added insight and confidence in your designs. The results are better designs, lower risk and faster time to the marketplace for your product or process.
Computational Flow Dynamics also allows researchers to analyze and to compare the current constitutive equations. Simulation of complex flows also provides valuable information about how to build new constitutive equations from the kinetic theory or even from the molecular dynamics of polymer chains.
Numerical simulation of a single screw extruder with Polyflow
Pressure field of a power-law fluid isothermal flow
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CFX
AEA Technology.
[www.aeat.com/cfx]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Industrial flow and heat transfer processes. Simulation of specific unit operations such as mixing vessels, spray dryers, cyclones and process heaters, chemical reactor, to environmental and safety studies in areas such as pollution dispersion and dust explosions. Turbulence, multiphase flows, reacting flows. Unstructured tetrahedral mesh with automatic meshing capabilities. Fully implicit and coupled solver.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CompuPlast
CompuPlast Inc.
[www.compuplast.com]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Since its beginnings, CompuPlast has focused on the development of PC based, user-friendly, CAE software for the simulation, analysis, design and troubleshooting of plastics processing operations. Both CompuPlast and PolyDynamics were created from co-operative research with the McMaster University (Hamilton, Canada). Products are FLOW2000 (in fact, this suite of tools contains upgraded versions of FLATCAD, SPIRALCAD, LAYERCAD.... : die flow simulation and design), B-SIM (blow molding), T-SIM (thermoforming).
------------------------------------------------------------------------
C-MOLD
C-mold Molding Intelligence
[www.cmold.com]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
C-MOLD Advanced Products cover a wide range of plastic processes including injection molding, gas-assisted injection molding, co-injection, injection-compression molding, reaction injection molding, microchip encapsulation, resin transfer molding (RTM), structural reaction injection molding (SRIM), rubber injection molding, blow molding, and thermoforming.
C-MOLD Desktop Products are designed to meet the needs of design, tooling, manufacturing, and process engineers who may not have access to advanced simulation capabilities or who want to get simulation feedback with high accuracy, but without the time requirements to run an advanced simulation Desktop tools address design and manufacturing concerns such as gate placement, injection time/rate, injection pressure, melt and mold temperatures, packing time and pressure, cooling time requirements, and machine size requirements.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
FIDAP
Fluent Inc.
[www.fluent.com]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
FIDAP is a general-purpose software package for the simulation of incompressible or compressible flows, with particular strength for applications in the materials processing field. Based on the finite-element method, FIDAP offers complete mesh flexibility and robust and efficient calculations. FIDAP's capabilities include general fluid flow and heat transfer, a range of well-validated turbulence models, free surface modeling, non-Newtonian rheology, buoyancy-dominated flow, electromagnetic forces, chemical reaction, and advanced radiation modeling.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fluent
Fluent Inc.
[www.fluent.com]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
FLUENT is a general-purpose solver for complex flows ranging from incompressible (low subsonic) to mildly compressible (transonic) to highly compressible (supersonic and hypersonic) flows. The wealth of physical models allows you to predict laminar, transitional and turbulent flows, various modes of heat transfer, chemical reaction, multiphase flows and other complex phenomena. Either structured mesh (FLUENT 4.5) or solution-adaptive unstructured (FLUENT 5.0) can be used.
Working with FLUENT, MIXSIM is an additional analysis tool for complete hydrodynamic simulation of agitated mixing vessels. It automatically generates the complete CFD model, including complex 3D mesh generation for multiple impeller systems.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Flow-3D
Flow Science Inc.
[www.flow3d.com]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
FLOW-3D is a general purpose CFD software package capable of simulating a wide variety of fluid flows. Speciality is the simulation of free surface flows with the volume of fluid method (VOF). FLOW-3D includes a variety of special features which enable one to model acoustic waves, cavitation, the solidification and shrinkage of metals, flow through porous media, surface tension, wall adhesion and more...
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nekton
Fluent Inc.
[www.fluent.com]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
NEKTON is the code of choice for the simulation of thin film coating flows and related problems in materials processing. This code is widely used in the paper, photographic, imaging, and printing industries for the analysis of thin-film coating flows. Roll coating, slot coating, air-knife coating, and related applications are ideally treated by NEKTON's free-surface and non-Newtonian modeling capabilities. Deforming mesh technique makes for easy setup and solution of problems involving unknown free surface locations, even those involving more than one fluid the location and shape of the interface between the immiscible fluid layers is also computed.
NEKTON uses the spectral element method, a variable-order solution approach that provides outstanding performance for the solution of laminar and non-Newtonian flows. With the geometric flexibility and convergence acceleration provided by unstructured spectral elements, NEKTON offers significant benefits over traditional finite element methods for accurate free surface modeling. Parametric analysis is easy using NEKTON's unique template capability, which allows easy parameterization of the geometry, boundary conditions and material properties of an existing flow solution.
This software is provided by Fluent Inc., however it will be dropped in the next future and all of its capabilities will be fully supplied by FIDAP or POLYFLOW. The commercial department wants to push those codes instead of NEKTON.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Moldflow
Moldfow Corporation
[www.moldflow.com]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
MPX (Moldflow Plastics Xpert) provides process engineers and plant managers with the tools to take control of the molding process by providing shop-floor solutions to the problems associated with injection molding machine setup, process optimization and production part quality. It wants to provide real-time process optimization and feedback that help remedy the production problems.
MPA (Moldflow Part Adviser) helps you take control of the early stages of part design by providing tools to quickly check the impact of critical design decisions on the manufacturability of a part, such as gate locations and material choice. The Part Adviser is integrated with most popular CAD packages (link to list of CAD partners) and a stand-alone version is available for use in multi-CAD environments or where CAD integration is not yet available.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Polyflow
Polyflow SA (a subsidiary of Fluent Inc.)
[www.polyflow.be]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
POLYFLOW is a finite-element based CFD package for the analysis of polymer processing, including extrusion die design, blow molding, and fiber spinning, as well as other materials processing applications. The software is particularly well-known for its extensive library of viscoelastic fluid models. In the area of extrusion die design, let us mention the capability for inverse die design: given the desired extrudate shape, the software will calculate the required die lip shape.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
PolyDynamics
PolyDynamics Inc.
[www.polydynamics.com]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
PolyDynamics makes PC-based user-friendly software for simulation, analysis, design and troubleshooting of plastics processing operations. Both PolyDynamics and CompuPlast were created from co-operative research with the McMaster University (Hamilton, Canada).
Specialized tools are EXTRUCAD XTRU-XPERT PROFILECAD FLATCAD SPIRALCAD LAYERCAD(die flow simulation and design), B-FILMCAD (film blowing), T-FORMCAD (thermoforming), CALENDARCAD (calendering). General flow analysis tool are POLYCAD-2D and POLYCAD-3D. Material characterization softwares also are available.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
ProPHLEX
COMCO Inc. (a subsidiary of Altair Engineering)
[www.comco.com]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Using ProPHLEX as a computational kernel, COMCO has developed several commercial application programs, targeting various problem classes. It includes HYPERXTRUDE a hp-adaptive finite element CFD code for modeling incompressible flows, including complex non-Newtonian fluid behavior. This program focuses 3D modeling of manufacturing processes, in particular aluminium and polymer extrusion.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Spectrum
Centrics Inc.
[www.centrics.com]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Spectrum is capable of simulating multiple interacting physics. It is built to exploit scalable processing environments, utilizes multiple numerical solution techniques within a single solution and employs an intelligent, interactive graphical user interface to optimize solution strategies.
Spectrum computational mechanics capabilities are very important including turbulence, viscoelastic and viscoplastic models. Multiphysics interaction through arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian techniques and free surfaces. Only 3D.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
SPR
Scientific Process and Research Inc.
[www.spar.com]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
SPR is mainly specialist in precision CNC machining of feed screws, extrusion dies and rolls. However, this company also provides a family of programs to simulate the extrusion. Specialized tools are : EXTRUDŽ-2000, INJEXX-2000 (Extrusion, Blow-molding and Injection Molding), DIEDES, DIEPAK (die design) VISC+ DATABANK (material properties).
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Star-CD
Computational Dynamics Ltd.
[www.cd.co.uk]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Multi-purpose thermofluids analysis code. Steady and transient, laminar and turbulent, compressible and incompressible flows of generalized Newtonian models. Well known for unstructured hybrid grids, arbitrary interfaces, free surfaces, Eulerian and Lagrangian multiphase.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
TXS
PolyTech
[www.polytech-usa.com]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
TXS (Twin-Screw Extruder Simulator) is a PC-based package to obtain approximate answers for process simulation and analysis of plastics compounding operations in corotating, intermeshing, modular twin-screw extruders. Steps of the process analyzed: solids conveying, melting, mixing, melt conveying and pressurization, in realistic settings with multiple feed and vent ports, support for double and triple-flighted extruders and long screws.
MENUSIM--a Brite-Euram thematic network of the European Commission
