New Features for 2027

The following features are new with this release.

Support for Drill and Plug construction method in cooling channel optimization

The Cooling Channel Optimization analysis now supports construction by the traditional Drill and Plug method. Most injection molds are still constructed using this mold construction method.

Starting with an existing cooling circuit layout, a Cooling Channel Optimization analysis automatically determines where the cooling is too effective (too close to the part) or ineffective (too far away from the part). It moves the cooling channels to balance the heat distribution while maintaining straight, drillable sections. The integrity of the mold is preserved by keeping channels a safe distance from other channels, the cavity and the mold boundaries.

The optimization allows cooling channels to be constructed with or without bubblers and baffles.

Note: The default construction method is Drill and Plug by default. Studies from previous software releases re-run in Moldflow 2027 will default to this method. You can optimize the channel design using complex conformal cooling channels by selecting the Additive manufacturing method.

3D Corner effects

A new Consider corner effects feature improves 3D warp prediction accuracy for parts with complex geometries, especially those with corners. The option to turn on this feature is available on the Warp analysis tab of the Advanced solver parameters dialog, and on the Warp settings page of the process settings wizard. By default, the option is off.

In corner regions of a part, mold restraint can cause shrinkage in the thickness direction to be significantly greater than in-plane shrinkage, leading to additional deformation. When the Consider corner effects feature is enabled, this mold-restraint-induced shrinkage contribution is taken into account.

This feature is supported for most 3D injection, injection-compression, and compression molding processes, including:

Thermoplastics injection molding
Thermoplastics overmolding
Reactive processes
Encapsulation processes
Microcellular molding
Chemical Foam molding
RTM

Note: Gas assisted injection molding does not support this feature.

File support for Animation formats

Support for the following animation format has been added:

Graphics Interchange Format (*.gif)

aiassistant utility

Most Autodesk Moldflow CAD and simulation results data exists in binary or encrypted proprietary data files, making them difficult to read by Artificial Intelligence(AI) tools. To aid AI, we have provided an aiassistant tool to extract summary data from the geometry, material, machine, and simulation result sets.

The aiassistant tool writes data in an ASCII .json file format

Summary data provided by the aiassistant tool:

Mesh type
Analysis sequence
Geometry information
- Part volume
- Cold runner volume
- Hot runner volume
Material information
- Manufacturer Name
- Trade Name
- Family abbreviation
- Material ID
- Mold temperature range(recommended)
- Mold surface temperature
- Melt temperature range(recommended)
- Melt temperature
- Maximum shear stress
- Maximum shear rate
- Fillers
Machine information
- Manufacturer name
- Trade name
- Machine ID
- Maximum machine clamp force
- Maximum machine injection pressure
- Machine screw diameter
- Maximum machine injection rate
- Maximum machine injection stroke
Result summary information
- For single frame results, such as "Fill time", we provide the minimum, maximum, average, and standard deviation
- For time series (multi-frame) results such as "Pressure", we provide the minimum and maximum values across the whole result set (all frames).
  
  Note: No data will be provided for:
  - Results like "Polymer Filled region" or "Grow From", as the data has no physical meaning.
  - Processes such as Design of Experiment or Molding Window
  - Results with more than one independent variable.

Note: This utility will not provide access to all potential result data available within the geometry, analysis inputs and simulation results. You will need to use other tools like the Python API, or studyrlt to extract this data.

Studyrlt utility "-frame" option

The studyrlt utility has been enhanced to extract data from all frames in a time series (multi-frame) result. Previously, studyrlt would only extract data from the last result frame.

The -frame option has been added as an option to the -result command

Option	Action
-frame 3	Examine frame 3 only
-frame first	Examine first frame
-frame last	Examine last frame
-frame all	Examine all frames
-frame first:last	Examine all frames. This is equivalent to -frame all
-frame 1:10	Examine frames 1 to 10
-frame 5:	Examine frames 5 to the last frame. This is equivalent to -frame 5:last
-frame :10	Examine first 10 frames. This is equivalent to -frame first:10

Note: The default behaviour for multi-frame results has changed. Studyrlt now looks at all result frames by default, rather than just the last frame. To make the behaviour the same as previous releases, add the arguments "-frame last" to the command arguments

Note: if the frame range value exceeds the number of frames in the result, then the number of frames will be set to the number of frames in the result

Studyrlt utility "-statistics" option

This option performs a set of statistical calculations in one run rather than needing to run the utility many times. The -statistics option is the same as running the utility five times with the following arguments: -max, -min, -ave, -stddev and -count. The result (.val) file and the screen output will provide multiple results, one per line, in the following order: minimum, maximum, average, standard deviation and count. If no result is available, then a blank line will be written.

Note: For single-frame results or time series results (multi-frame) with a single frame selected, we provide five values: the minimum, maximum, average, standard deviation and count.

Note: For time series (multi-frame) result when there is more than one selected frame,we provide only the minimum and maximum values.

Studyrlt utility now supports XY plot data

The studyrlt utility can now be used to extract Y data values from XY plot data. This allows extraction of data from results like "Clamp tonnage" and "Pressure at injection location".

VTK Export

Export study geometry and analysis results to VTK format files for use in external visualization applications that support VTK files, such as ParaView.

VTK export is available through both the Moldflow Synergy interface and command line using the studyrlt utility.

Rotate Performance Tool

The Rotate Performance Tool helps to measure graphics performance in Moldflow environment. This tool provides FPS (Frames Per Second) measurements by performing a series of model rotations.