Feasibility vs. Validation

Posted by stephens on Mar 11, 2010 in Engineering Decisions, Tips & Techniques | 0 comments

I see alot of shops, with good intentions, performing engineering in the wrong sequence.

They process a job. They design the dies. Then, they run formability analysis. For the first time.

The first time formability simulation is run is called feasibility.

The question here is: will it work?

In other words, is the product design, material specification, and addendum feasible for production stamping?

Will it work?

Validation, on the other hand, is the act of making sure the die design intent is functional for production stamping.

The question validation must answer is: does it work?

There is a fundamentally practical difference between feasibility and validation. Feasibility is performed long before hundreds of hours of die design work is started.

Validation is a final check on the tools and process for the die design. Forces, travels, basic die mechanics (along with refined formability simulation analysis, of course).

Asking the feasibility question just days before the die shop will start making chips is the wrong time.

What if the development does not work?

What if the tool architecture does not work?

I will tell you what happens: redesign.

Formability must be done ahead of die design. It is that simple.

Go ahead and run simulation again at the end for validation if you like. But running it for the first time prior to die build, in most cases, will prove to be a time and money disaster.