A numerical strategy for predicting the mould of ceramic sanitary wares

Mould prediction represents a crucial aspect of the production chain of several manufacturing industries. In particular, if the ceramic industry is considered, during the production process the highly non-linear mechanical behavior of the material leads to final products that can differ from the forming mould up to 20 % of its characteristic length. Considering that production tolerances can be considered acceptable if they do not exceed 0.5 % of the same length, the mould prediction becomes a very challenging inverse engineering problem. In this paper, a numerical strategy, able to predict the mould shape starting from the desired design shape, is presented. The activity has been developed in collaboration with SACMI, a world leading company in the production of machineries and moulds for the ceramic industry. [Figure not available: see fulltext.]