Rapid Analysis for Complex Tooling Structures

Tooling for complex assemblies is necessary for the completion of any large project. However, it is too often that the manufacturing engineers and tool engineers are put at the back of the line for complex structural analysis to verify the performance of the tool they are making. Also, these engineers are tasked with many other duties, so they are not an expert in CAD/Drafting or the necessary analysis needed to make sure the tool is correct the first time.

This presentation will take a look at some of the newer simulation and analysis tools on the market and show how these new tools are used in a manufacturing setting to verify the performance of complex tooling assemblies. We will also explore a few usecases and examples pertaining to tool design and analysis.

The case study will show examples from an Aerospace OEM who was able to use advanced simulation tools to predict deflections of the tools under loading to make sure tolerances were within nominal ranges for precise manufacturing. They were also able to perform this analysis in a matter of minutes on the CAD model that was made, skipping the traditional workflow of having the stress analysis group make a model to confirm the performance, and saving more than 40 hours of work.

Additionally, the case study will also look at how tool designers were able to use analysis to confirm that a tool was overstiff, allowing for the overall gauge of the material used in the tooling to be lessened, saving tens of thousands of dollars in the tools cost without sacrificing performance.