Bangalore: Altair Engineering has launched a new simulation software tool that removes the guesswork from estimating the costs of extruding aluminium products, generating significant savings in materials and time, according to an official press release.

The software, HyperXtrude / PROCESS, allows users to determine optimum process conditions, estimate productivity and cost, and enables easy sharing of this information across departments. The software can be run by non-specialised personnel, the release said.

The new software is specially designed to help aluminium-extrusion plants determine the optimum process conditions (billet) length (to reduce scrap), extrusion speed, billet pre-heating and taper to estimate productivity on different presses and to perform cost analysis.

"With process optimisation, productivity calculations and cost analysis encapsulated into a single tool, it helps to produce quality products at high speeds and low costs, and enables a seamless information transfer between different departments in extrusion plants," product manger Dr Mahender Reddy said.

The quality of extruded-aluminium products is affected by many variables such as aluminium alloys, extrusion speed, billet pre-heat, profile geometry, die shape, bearing definition and extrusion press.

The software uses physics-based calculations, which allow for accurate productivity estimates before an extruder has even run the die. This is in contrast to other statistical based tools that require the input of historical information of a given die or press before being able to calculate optimal process settings.

"HyperXtrude/ PROCESS uses the optimum process conditions, billet cost, scrap value, labour and burden costs, die cost, and transportation costs to determine the productivity and cost estimates for multiple presses. This helps plant managers in scheduling the jobs to realise maximum profits," Reddy added.