A virtual prototyping approach to mold design

Mold design is a complex process involved in many decision factors and often requires prototypes to assess the assemblability and demouldability of the design. Virtual prototyping (VP) is an alternative to hardware prototyping in which analysis of designs can be done without manufacturing physical samples. The paper presents a virtual prototyping environment supporting mold design in which the mold virtual prototype is generated by combining automated and interactive approaches. The generated virtual prototype can be input into a virtual reality environment for visualization and design evaluation by performing virtual assemble and physical-based injection moving simulation. By creating a VP that allows for assessing assemblability and demouldability early in the mold design process, a design can be modified to accommodate assemblability and demouldability before final stages of design are reached