Weld Surfaces

Weld surfaces (commonly referred to as weld lines or knit lines) occur during an injection molding process in which multiple gates are used or the flow splits around an obstacle. When the flow fronts meet, a weld surface is formed that causes a significant reduction in the mechanical strength of the part. Moldflow is commonly used to predict the formation of weld surfaces, but in order to understand the implications the weld surface has on a part's structural performance, the weld surface information needs to be transferred to the structural FEA model.

The weld surface functionality in Advanced Material Exchange allows you to map the predicted 3D weld surface from Moldflow to your structural model. This includes the ability to map the reduced yield strength to the structural model. The topics that follow guide you through the use of the weld surface functionality in Advanced Material Exchange.