SmartFlow analysis optimizes silicone and rubber tooling design
by Scott Early and Dalton Hart, Klockner Desma Elastomertechnik GmbH
Klockener Desma Elastomertechnik GmbH, located in Fridingen, Germany, builds machinery and molds, and develops production cells for rubber and silicone processing. This company, founded in 1965, has a history of mold and cold runner development. Desma molds are in factories around the globe in various market sectors, including automotive, electrical, infrastructure, consumer goods and mechanical sealing applications. Today, Desma produces molds and tooling at factories in Germany; Hebron, KY (Desma USA’s NAMC Division); Ahmadabad, India; and Wuxi, China. Each facility has a core competence in mold manufacture. In an effort to leverage global know-how, reduce design time and overall time for mold production, a decision was made to invest in mold flow simulation capabilities.
Mold design processes today benefit from sophisticated design software that creates 3D models easily exported to manufacturing, CAM programming and metal cutting.