Asahi Kasei Engineering Corp. (AEC) (Tokyo, Japan) recently introduced a cloud-based, computer-aided engineering (CAE) solution platform. According to the company, it offers highly precise apps to predict crash and impact behavior of polymers.
As the adoption of polymer materials in automobiles and other products increases, precise simulation of material behavior is expected to contribute to enhanced product design while significantly reducing costs and time for material and application development.
In recent years, cloud-based high-performance computing (HPC) has been increasingly used throughout various industries. As a result, the on-demand use of CAE software installed in cloud HPC is also becoming more common in the material development process.
As a manufacturer of technical polymers, Asahi Kasei says it offers comprehensive, high-precision support for its customers’ product design and development through a CAE technical service focused on engineering plastics.
Fracture Prediction Application
The apps offered on the platform include the downloadable and highly accurate polymer material fracture prediction model “i-LUPE.” Microscopically, amorphous polymer materials have a structure in which molecular chains are intricately entangled.
When an impact or other force is applied to this material causing significant deformation, the molecular chains are stretched, resulting in the formation of voids and fibrils (bundles of molecular chains). When these so-called crazes grow, the polymer material fractures.
By focusing on crazes, “i-LUPE” accurately predicts and reproduces possible fractures in the polymer, according to the company.
Supporting Mapping Tool
As a supporting app to “i-LUPE,” the CAE solution platform offers an on-demand mapping tool specifically focused on anisotropic materials, such as fiber-reinforced resins. This tool converts fiber orientation data into “i-LUPE” material property lists, which are used as reference for selecting the optimal material for specific applications.
This enables an accurate visual representation of the deformation behavior of fiber-reinforced resins.
For more information and to register for the platform, visit www.caesolution.asahi-kasei.co.jp/public/en/.
Source: Asahi Kasei, www.asahi-kasei.com.