THREE-DIMENSIONAL FOAM ANALYSIS METHOD, PRODUCT DESIGN AIDING METHOD USING THE ANALYSIS METHOD, AND RECORDING MEDIUM RECORDING THESE METHODS

To regulate the passage structure of a foaming die and the injected amount of foaming material, the flow behavior of the foaming material is analyzed by obtaining a flow velocity and a pressure by inputting the density as a function, including the elapsed time from the passage through an injection port to the foaming die and the thickness, and substituting a calculated density in equations of continuity and motion. In the analysis, the viscosity of the foaming material is used as a function including a time term. The boundary and molding conditions are corrected when the calculation does not converge. The density and pressure distributions of the foaming material are determined when the calculation converges. When the density and pressure distributions depart from design tolerances, the foaming passage structure and foaming material injected amount are regulated by an analysis program that corrects the model form, physical property or molding condition.