A new simulation tool will soon provide the ability to predict in the early design stage, what a PVOH pouch will look like after production. Our partner company Tricas is developing a CAD-tool which can accurately foresee how the PVOH-material will stretch and form itself during production of the pouches.
This enables our clients and us, to come up faster with new – and better – designs for PVOH-pouches.
Predict elasticity and plasticity with simulation
One of the most difficult aspects of pouches, made of PVOH-film, is the unpredictable reaction of the pouch when shaping it in form, because little is known about the elasticity and plasticity of the material. Today, without producing the PVOH-pouch, there is no accurate way to locally predict both the elastic and plastic deformation during production. Therefore it is hard to foresee what the pouch will look like and how it will react on usage in – for example – washers and dishwashers.
Gather insights during design stage
The new simulation tool will give these insights already during the design stage of the pouch. Without making any prototypes, a good estimation can be made about, for example, the thickness of the PVOH-material after production, and therefore the form and solubility of the pouch.
Additional simulation step, before Labscale
From the beginning of PVOH-pouch making, EME-Engel and partner company Tricas have invested in tools that give more insights in look, feel and applicability of pouches, produced on EME-Engel platforms. One of the achievements is the Labscale, which enables R&D departments to produce prototypes for testing and control. The simulation tool which is now being developed, is an addition that will give even clearer insights in the design and development process.
Stay informed about simulation tool
First application of the simulation tool will be available for the EME-Engel PVOH pouch makers Compact and Pulliq. Tricas and EME-Engel expect to take the simulation tool in operation before summer.
The simulation tool will make it possible to locally predict both the elastic and plastic deformation of PVOH during production.
