Design + Processing Properties

Design and Processing Properties (DPP) is a software tool that increases planning security for developers of thermoplastic moldings and speeds up time-consuming design steps in the run-up to large-scale production.

DPP is not a static database from which only properties that have already been measured can be selected and retrieved by users. On the contrary, each user can define their own requirements profile, for example thickness, flow path, processing parameters and machine set-ups. The software then determines the properties of each molding from this profile. The new option rounds off the extensive range of calculations available to part designers and thermoplastics processors.

The heart of the DPP software is an artificial neural network that emulates the way information is processed by the brain. The computer does this by simulating a series of interconnected nerve cells. Like their natural counterparts, these artificial neurons receive signals from their neighbours and decide which of them to pass on. The signals here are numbers rather thannerve impulses. If data is now entered at the input nerve cells, it is processed by the network to obtain a result that can be read at the output cells. The extent to which the value propagated by one cell influences another cell is determined by the computer during a “learning phase”, in which it is trained using examples with known input and output values. After the circuitry has been defined in this way and the neural network can predict the results of previously unknown input data.

The permissible resistance of thermoplastic parts to various types of stress can be calculated by UL TTC’s DPP software not only for the operating temperature but also for long-term use. Both the temperatures and the periods of exposure are freely selectable.