Simulation of Multibody Assembly Process
Physics: Nonlinear Continuum Mechanics
Software: Solidworks Simulation Premium
Audience: International Medical Device Client
Over the course of a 12 month contract at FPrin LLC, I acted as the primary analyst and technical communicator with a large European medical device manufacturer.
The medical device product I analyzed was composed of various injection molded plastic and blown glass components. Large localized stresses during a snap-fit assembly process produced and trapped plastic debris inside the device at unacceptably high rates.
The situation resulted in low yield during manufacturing and safety concerns; previous trial-and-error methods had not been effective.
hybrid simulation/experimental environment avoids expensive design/build/test cycles (representative data used to preserve confidentiality).
I designed and conducted a modeling campaign aimed at finding and eliminate the root cause of theses issues
I produced meshes from production molded design files, defined nonlinear material models and boundary conditions, and interpreted & communicated results, such as these equilibrium paths in force-displacement space (representative data is used to preserve confidentiality).
As soon as root causes of the issues were determined, I conducted 200+ simulations on a battery of potential design candidates. I led discussion of results from these simulations between our team, design engineers, and the injection molding firm responsible for producing the finished design.
We chose the highest-performing design from the simulation campaign and authorized changes to the steel tool. When the first new parts came off the line, the design changes had eliminated the debris issue - an unmitigated success.