Case Study: Anderson CNC achieves optimized smoke extraction and $40K hardware savings with SimScale

Anderson CNC found the perfect smoke outlets location for a CNC plasma table with SimScale

Anderson CNC, maker of Stryker Machines CNC plasma tables, needed to replace a water-based smoke filtration system that trapped cut parts and optimize smoke outlet placement for a new extractor-based design. Lacking in-house CFD expertise and the time/money to build multiple prototypes, the company adopted SimScale’s cloud-based CFD platform and onboarding support to virtually test smoke propagation and outlet configurations.

Using SimScale, Anderson CNC ran multiple steady-state passive-scalar simulations (all calculated in about 2 hours) to evaluate inlet locations, suction scenarios and duct turbulence, which guided outlet placement and extractor specifications. The virtual tests revealed inefficiencies, improved smoke channeling, enabled the team to finish the design within two months, and delivered measurable savings of roughly $40k in hardware while producing a machine that efficiently removes smoke as predicted by the simulations.