Case study of a thermally-assisted manufacturing tool-and-process modeling for design optimization

The purpose of this case study was to present a methodology for modeling a thermal tool used in a thermally assisted manufacturing process and the thermo-fluid dynamics associated with this tool in operation, for design optimization that will generate the desired product while accommodating normal process and material variation. In this paper, a thermal tool and process are modeled using a hybrid of solid modeling and thermo-fluid dynamics modeling. The resulting model is experimentally calibrated and tested to predict the performance of the tool and process. Results show a very close match between the simulation and experimental data. The model is further implemented to modify the design and results show very close match between the simulation and actual data.