Design SuperiorMaterials Fast WithPhysics-Driven Simulation
A design assistant that co-optimizes every requirement at once, finding the right chemistry, build and processing parameters.
Create thousands of digital twins, simulate stiffness, impact, water uptake and colour hold in the weather the part actually lives in, then test only the most promising ones.
Trial and error, balancing many conflicting requirements
Seal it against the rain and it gains weight. Take the weight out and it cracks when somebody drops it. Stabilise it against the sun and the cost goes up. Fix all three and the part is worth more than what it is protecting. Then whatever works still has to come off the tool in minutes, clear the label rules, and be bought at volume.
The project
A new R&D project is defined.
The targets
Target properties are defined, and they conflict. Fixing one ruins another.
The search
Millions of candidate builds, because every chemistry can be coated, blended and laid up in many ways. With tooling and prototypes, only a few are ever made.
The risk
A material that works is only the start. These three are targets of their own, optimised for last when the build is hardest to change. Any one can end the program.
Backbond co-optimizes for all the targets simultaneously
The same four steps, answered. Backbond hands the team a short list of builds that already hit every target and already survive the tool, the label rules and the supply chain.
- Body weight
- Define a Number
- Stiffness
- Define a Number
- Impact resistance
- Define a Number
- Water resistance
- Define a Number
- UV stability
- Define a Number
Define
The product, the targets it must hit, and the parameters to change: fibre and filler mix, core and wall, coating chemistry, cure schedule.
Simulate
Backbond simulates all possible combinations and evaluates every one, chemistry and build together.
Rank
The candidate builds are ranked by promise and confidence, and those are not the same thing.
Test
The team proceeds to the coupon and the moulded prototype with the most promising builds. By default, these satisfy all targets and constraints.
Simulation removes the reformulation loops, and those are where the years go. Ageing still has to be witnessed, and no software makes five years pass faster.
How Backbond simulates a design candidate
Four levels of physics decide what a material actually does, and Backbond reasons about how all four interplay to set every spec.
A few example use cases
Every one is the same shape: a handful of targets that fight each other, and one material that has to hit them all.
A laminate must become all-polyethylene and keep its barrier. Find the coating, tie layer and process window that hold the oxygen transmission, while keeping seal strength, clarity and cost.
A film must lose 20% of its thickness and keep its drop performance. Find the resin blend, orientation and layer split that hold the toughness, while keeping seal strength, clarity and cost.
A pack must drop its aluminium foil and still reach twelve months. Find the barrier chemistry, coat weight and cure that hold the shelf life, while keeping recyclability, flex crack resistance and cost.
A plant-based leather must feel like the nappa it replaces. Find the binder, plasticiser and emboss that hold the hand, while keeping tensile strength, flex endurance and cost.
A surface must hold its colour and its water repellency through five years outdoors. Find the coating chemistry, stabiliser package and cure that resist the chalking, while keeping adhesion, weight and cost.
A material must drop its fluorochemistry and still resist grease. Find the chemistry, surface texture and cure that hold the repellency, while keeping food-contact compliance, printability and cost.
A moulded body must lose 15% of its weight and keep its first mode clear of the motors. Find the layup, core thickness and rib pattern that hold the stiffness, while keeping impact resistance and cost.
A housing must pass an IPX5 spray without a gasket that costs more than the panel. Find the seam geometry, sealant and cure that stop the ingress, while keeping weight, serviceability and cost.
A material must carry 30% recycled content and keep its appearance. Find the blend, filtration and stabiliser package that hold the colour and the strength, while keeping odour, consistency and cost.
A resin must be replaced when its price doubles overnight. Find the substitute, blend and process window that hold every spec, without requalifying the pack.
The future of the materials R&D organization
How Optagon Labs imagines the materials company of the future, drawn from work with hundreds of R&D teams: one brain coordinating specialised agents that work in parallel, running development end to end across the portfolio.
Coordinating work across every function