ESI Group (www.esi-group.com), a global supplier of digital simulation software for prototyping and manufacturing processes, has released its Weld Planner software for the evaluation and control of welding distortion engineering at the early stage of preliminary design and planning. The company said the software allows users to considerably reduce time-to-production, and thus to reduce production costs.

The Weld Planner is simple to use, and the application provides access to welding-induced distortion simulation for persons unfamiliar with finite-element simulation. User training is completed in just one day. The software results in the fast generation or automatic finding of weld seams between parts, convenient definition of the welding sequence as a robotic plan, typical industrial clamping conditions, and versatile possibilities for the visualization of computed distortion.

“Weld Planner is dedicated to product design and production planning. It enables a user to control welding distortion of complex welded designs in less than one day and, consequently, make significant savings in experimental try-out loops and distortion repair cost,” said Harald Porzner, ESI Group product manager. “Weld Planner is well-integrated in ESI Group's complete Welding Simulation Solution. You can manage your business on demand, from early feasibility to detailed weld design and weld quality evaluation.”