Forming Technologies (FTI®) is a Hexagon Group company providing software solutions for the design, feasibility, and costing of sheet metal components. FTI® has provided OEMs and suppliers in the automotive, aerospace, electronics, and appliance industries with innovative solutions designed to reduce development time and material costs.
FormingSuite addresses four main tasks during the design of a sheet metal forming process.
- Blank estimation, formability analysis, nesting and raw material utilization
- Method design and tool cost analysis
- Part design and one-step formability analysis
- Tool surface design and formability analysis
Blank estimation, formability analysis, nesting and raw material utilization
“COSTOPTIMIZER” and “COSTOPTIMIZER Advanced” provides users with a fast and accurate method for developing blank shapes and coil nests, and makes recommendations to alter stamped component designs for cost reduction. It is specifically designed for raw material cost calculation and quick formabilty analysis.
Method design and tool cost analysis
“COSTOPTIMIZER Professional” is an interactive environment for creating and documenting process plans based on part features such as flanges, holes, and embossments. The process plan describes the processing sequence and the detailed actions in each operation. Total tool cost analysis report is generated automatically based on the design process stages.
Part design and one-step formability analysis
With "FASTFORM Advanced", "COSTOPTIMIZER" and "COSTOPTIMIZER Advanced" formability analysis of a part can be done in seconds and errors that may arise during forming can be detected in the design stage. This allows performing error-free part design in early stages of design process.
Tool surface design and formability analysis
"3D Addendum" feature included in all modues is a sculpting approach to creating and morphing addendum and binder geometry resulting in a fast, flexible, and visual approach to die face design.
“FormingSuite Professional” is an incremental analysis solution that provides a detailed virtual die tryout for users with limited FEM background. It offers many advanced features such as automatic blank size, shape and location, automatic process setup, and automatic binder closing.
“FormingSuite Professional” also utilizes a hybrid analysis approach (Finite Increment Technology) that combines the ability to quickly determine blank shapes with the detailed process analysis of incremental solvers. The solution runs in both directions to track material movement back through the process while carrying the strains forward.