ESI group releases PAM-ASSEMBLY for distortion engineering

Citation

(2006), "ESI group releases PAM-ASSEMBLY for distortion engineering", Assembly Automation, Vol. 26 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/aa.2006.03326daf.004

ESI group releases PAM-ASSEMBLY for distortion engineering

ESI group releases PAM-ASSEMBLY for distortion engineering

Keywords: Assembly, Simulation, Welding

ESI Group has released the latest version of the PAM-ASSEMBLY software package, which allows designers, production planners and manufacturing practitioners to quickly understand, control and minimise distortion resulting from welding fabrication. The product has been validated for more than five years by many industry partners.

PAM-ASSEMBLY software (Plate 5) helps to find the best possible welding fabrication solution from the design stage to the manufacturing stage of the product. Based on an intuitive workflow, PAM-ASSEMBLY does not require an advanced knowledge of finite element analysis (FEA), which makes it accessible to a wide range of users.

Plate 5

PAM-ASSEMBLY offers a simple five- step methodology. The welding process is simulated on a “local” model, where comprehensive welding physics is manipulated to evaluate internal forces generated by the welding joint, which are stored in a local model database. Therefore, end-users of PAM- ASSEMBLY do not need to deal with the complex simulation of welding physics.

The first step in modelling a welding assembly is to access the local model database to choose the weld joint configuration. The next step focuses on the generation of the “global” model, based on the different components to be assembled. After defining the welding sequence and clamping conditions, the distortion due to the welding assembly process is computed. The last step consists of a fast and accurate analysis, allowing the optimisation of the welding distortion due to the fabrication process.

“A very good agreement has been achieved between measurements and simulations, using the local–global approach of PAM-ASSEMBLY,” says Marek Slovacek PhD, Head of the Department of Technology Processes at the Institute of Applied Mechanics Brno Ltd (a company in the Czech Republic).

“PAM-ASSEMBLY's technology provides innovation and precision in advanced manufacturing simulation without simplification of the physics of welding, while remaining user-friendly and efficient with respect to computation time, even for large assemblies,” adds Harald Porzner, Manager of the Welding Simulation Solution Department at ESI Group.

PAM-ASSEMBLY is a part of the Welding Simulation Solution provided by ESI Group. The user environment is available on Windows platforms and the computation can be run on major Windows, Linux and Unix platforms.

This innovative simulation software is a tool which can be used to provide solutions to the everyday issues that face designers, process planners and manufacturing practitioners. It can be used at any stage of product and process development. It incorporates SYSWELD – the simulation tool used to simulate the welding physics for the local model – and PAM-ASSEMBLY – the simulation tool to perform distortion engineering on large and complex structures in the shortest time possible. The Welding Simulation Solution facilitates the assessment, control and optimisation of distortion and residual stresses due to the welding fabrication process.

The welding simulation solution includes single pass welding, multi- pass welding, spot welding, friction welding and friction stir welding. The heat effects of arbitrary welding processes can be predicted, allowing distortion engineering and residual stress control. The Welding Simulation Solution is being applied successfully in heavy industry and in the energy and nuclear, automotive and shipbuilding sectors. A significant simulation engineering knowledge base is provided with the software and extensive in-depth training courses are available on all aspects of welding simulation engineering.

For further information, please go to: www.esi-group.com