The Art and Science Behind Manufacturing

When I am flipping through the channels on television, the one program that always attracts my attention is How
Its Made on the Science Channel. There is something about the idea of making things that brings out the childlike curiosity in learning about the world surrounding us. From cars to computers to phones and many other things
that we see every day, do we wonder how they are made? If youre one of the individuals associated with designing
a product, hopefully youre in touch with the manufacturing aspect of the product as well. Manufacturing can be
a broad topic for discussion, but usually it refers to the process of converting raw materials, components, or parts
into finished goods on a large scale production to meet a customers expectations or specifications. Prior to the
industrial revolution, manufacturing was an art, a skill trade that got passed on within a restricted group - family or
hired apprentices. Now as a wealth producing sector, manufacturing represents industrial strength and a matter of
national pride. Lots of scientific advancements have been made to automate the manufacturing processes through
innovations in robotics, controls, electronics, and operations management, to name a few. The heavy investment is
easily recouped by the mass production of parts. In that context, down time due to machine failure or defective parts
can cause a significant setback in production cycles, causing huge financial losses.
As diverse as the materials and their applications are throughout the production process, so are the methods of
manufacturing. Different materials, such as plastics, metals and composites are manufactured by various processes,
including injection molding, casting, forging, stamping, extrusion etc. The table below is a snapshot from the APA
manufacturing brochure shows common methods across industries:

3D Printing
Casting
Extrusion
Forging
Injection
Molding
Stamping
Welding

Automotive

Aerospace

Consumer
Products
X

Electronics

X
X
X
X

X
X
X
X

X
X

X
X

X
X

X
X

Heavy
Oil & Gas
Equipment

Shipbuilding

Manufacturing simulation reveals quite a bit of information, depending on the process involved, like filling,
solidification, material flow direction, deformation, scraps, residual stresses, defects and failures, to name a few.
Simulating the manufacturing process has multiple advantages. First, a part designer can check the feasibility of
making the product under development, and also identify any defects resulting from the process, which provides a
chance to rectify them before the product is actually made. Similarly, a tool engineer can work on the required tooling
(dies/molds) considering all the process conditions. One can also optimize the entire process conditions to minimize
waste, increase efficiency, save cost, or improve the part quality. Further downstream, as the manufacturing process
affects the mechanical properties and fatigue life of the produced part, the results from manufacturing simulation
can be transferred to structural, thermal and durability analysis to have the right initial conditions. So in summary,
manufacturing process simulation can help:
Understand the overall process, optimize where applicable
Identify part defects and rectify methods before the physical part is made
Design for the tooling (die, molds, presses)
Transfer information to downstream analysis - thermal and strength effects in product performance and assess
fatigue life

Altair and the APA products provide customers tools to simulate a broad portfolio of manufacturing methods, as
shown below. Additional information on this topic and the solutions overview can be found in the webinar conducted
last fall.

The other side of the spectrum is the consideration of manufacturing feasibility while designing products.
Manufacturing constraints in OptiStruct and quick feasibility checks in Inspire allow you to generate a design that
not only meets performance requirements, but also satisfies the manufacturing requirements, so that there are no
issues when making the part.
Questions or comments?
Email: apasupport@altair.com
To learn more about the products listed above, visit www.altairhyperworks.com/apa.
Article Written By: Sridhar Ravikoti