Using MapleSim to model web handling and converting systems

A: It is not. MapleSim’s Web Handling Library makes it very straightforward to model a web line. There are components for all sorts of rollers which you drag and drop on to the modeling canvas.

Spans connect everything together and you can arrange the layout to best match the arrangement of the physical line. Clearly marked connectors for the type and direction help avoid modeling mistakes. Furthermore, the user just needs to provide the engineering data for various elements of the web line and MapleSim takes care of the calculation of lengths and wrap angles. Additionally, MapleSim will generate a 3D visualization of the web line created by connecting components together on the modeling canvas.

A: The first step is to gain insight into where slippage may occur on a web line and what factors affect it the most. The MapleSim Web Handling Library can model rollers (and nip rollers) with slippage. The capstan equation (also known as the Euler-Eytelwein formula) is used where the user needs to provide the constant or varying coefficient of friction between the web and the roller. Simulation results then provide slip velocities for all idle and pull rollers, considering factors such as tension, web velocity and acceleration, and roller inertia. For nip rollers, if the nip force is known, slip velocities can be calculated considering the double-sided friction between the web, the roller, and the nip.

Once a MapleSim model of the physical system is developed, the simulation environment can then be used to explore design modifications that reduce the slip velocity to zero, such as altering the web line to change the wrap angle on the slipping roller, adjusting the baseline tension, or adding vacuum pressure.