Astec Industries' Optimization of Hot-Mix Asphalt Equipment with ANSYS ICEM CFD
Applicable Industries
- Equipment & Machinery
Applicable Functions
- Product Research & Development
About The Customer
Astec Industries, Inc. is a leading American company that designs and manufactures a complete line of continuous and batch-process hot-mix asphalt plants, as well as soil remediation equipment. Since its inception in 1972, Astec has grown to become the market leader in hot-mix asphalt plants in the United States. The company prides itself on listening to customers and understanding every aspect of their business, which enables it to provide new products that solve problems and increase profitability. Astec's design engineers use a range of analysis tools, including CFD, FEA, and DEM, to design and optimize critical components.
The Challenge
Astec Industries, a leading manufacturer of hot-mix asphalt plants and soil remediation equipment, faced several challenges in their design and manufacturing process. The company started with CAD models intended solely for manufacturing, which resulted in very complex and imperfect assemblies. They needed to quickly generate parametric studies to determine key design variables, but were constrained by demanding time scales for results. Additionally, there was a vast difference in the scale of detail on most models, further complicating the design and optimization process.
The Solution
Astec Industries turned to ANSYS ICEM CFD Tetra and its direct CAD interface to address these challenges. The software allowed linking of mesh parameters with the CAD geometry, streamlining the generation of parametric studies. The extensive geometry clean-up tools provided by ANSYS ICEM CFD enabled the modification of imperfect geometry, making the design process more efficient. The solution also offered curvature and proximity-based auto-refinement and excellent interactive refinement controls, which further enhanced the design and optimization process.
Operational Impact
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