Ashland Releases Update to Core Modeling Software

Nov. 20, 2007
Arena-flow 7.0 features intuitive, user-friendly GUI
Ashland Casting Solutions is making available version 7.0 of Arena-flow, the computer-aided engineering software for coremaking and tooling design. Arena-flow was developed by Arena-flow L.L.C., together with General Motors, NASA, the U.S. Dept. of Energy, and Ashland, which licenses the technology for use by metalcasters. In addition to license agreements, Arena-flow contract engineering projects are available through Ashland Casting Solution’s Design Services Center. ACS is a business group of Ashland Performance Materials, an Ashland Inc. division. Arena-flow presents users with a picture of the entire coremaking process, including the blowing, gassing, and purging cycles, and the ability to analyze the virtual cores before investing in coremaking equipment, materials, and/or production. The software also allows tooling manufacturers to validate optimum designs, to ensure that cold box tooling is optimized when production begins. Peter Blaser, global product manager of Arena-flow L.L.C., explains that “Arena-flow version 7.0 is extremely useful to the industry: from project setup to engineering solutions, this is the fastest and most accurate sand core engineering software ever released to the public.” Arena-flow 7.0 includes a new “solver” that Ashland states will improve the software’s performance and experimental data agreement. Users reportedly will have access to several new tools to improve productivity, reduce costs, shorten development timelines, and eliminate process design errors. Also, advances in the vent interface plus image and animation manipulation provide Arena-flow users with significant enhancements that have removed complexity and added functionality, the supplier reports. ”The additional development of a new, intuitive and more user-friendly graphical user interface (GUI) has also generated very positive results from our current user base in the Americas, Europe and Asia,” states Peter Mothes, Ashland Casting Solutions’ manager - global design services.