Because of the importance of quality material data on analysis accuracy, Autodesk Moldflow Plastics Labs have developed Material Quality Indicators.
There are three different indicators that reflect the confidence you can have in the material data, for different analysis requirements.
- Fill Quality Indicator
- Investigates the quality of the Viscosity, Specific Heat Capacity and Thermal Conductivity data.
- Packing Quality Indicator
- Incorporates the quality of the Fill Quality Indicator results and the pvT data. The Packing Quality Indicator cannot exceed the Fill Quality Indicator.
- Warpage Quality Indicator
- Incorporates the suitability of the Packing Quality Indicator along with the Mechanical Property and Shrinkage data. The Warpage Quality Indicator cannot exceed the Packing Quality Indicator.
Each indicator can be assigned a Gold, Silver or Bronze rating based on the following criteria.
- Testing method employed to generate the value of each material property.
- Completeness of the range of material properties needed for the analysis type.
- How recently the testing was completed.
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| Packing Quality |
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| Warpage Quality |
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A Gold rating indicates a high confidence in the quality of the material data for the analysis type. When accurate analysis results are critical, it is recommended that a material with a Gold rating should be used.
A Silver rating can result from a combination of well tested, and supplemental1 material data. For example, a material might have a Gold Packing Quality rating but use supplemental Mechanical Properties data. This could result in a Silver Warpage Quality Indicator rating.
Bronze ratings can reflect problems such as incomplete data sets, the extensive use of supplemental data and untested material properties. The use of Bronze-rated materials can still generate good results, but these results should not be relied upon to determine critical requirements such as precise warpage or shrinkage allowances used for the cutting of molds.
An unknown rating indicates a material that has been used in an earlier version of the software. Re-selecting the same material will update the Material Quality Indicators.
The rating for a material is displayed in the Study Tasks pane of a study. Hover the mouse over an icon for the rating to be displayed.
This information is also in the Quality Indicators tab of the Thermoplastics material dialog (
).
The View Details button on the Quality Indicators tab of the Thermoplastic material dialog outlines the parameters considered in assigning a rating. Other tabs on the Thermoplastic material dialog further define the material testing data.