Drying Formulas

Occurs between dip cycles, as well as after all dip cycles are complete.

Labor Time = 0

The cost model assumes that drying is not attended to by an operator.

Cycle Time = Process Time * Cycle Time Adjustment Factor

Cycle time depends on the following:

• Process time: see formula.

• Cycle Time Adjustment factor (specified by the cost model variable cycleTimeAdjustmentFactor). This factor is 1 in aPriori starting point Digital Factories. Digital Factory Administrators can modify cycleTimeAdjustmentFactor in order to adjust cycle times across processes within the current Digital Factory.

Process Time =

Drying Time per Tree / Number of Wax Patterns on Tree

Process time depends on the following:

• Drying time per tree: if this occurrence of Drying is between dip cycles, drying time per tree is specified by the cost model variable dryingTimePerTree_inCycle (10800 seconds in starting point Digital Factories).

If this occurrence of Drying occurrs after all dip cycles are complete, drying time per tree is specified by the cost model variable dryingTimePerTree_final (86400 seconds in starting point Digital Factories).

• Number of wax patterns on tree: see Number of Parts per Tree.Flash Fire De-Waxing Formulas

This process uses the following formulas:

Labor Cost = Labor Time * Labor Rate / Final Yield

Labor cost depends on the following:

• Labor time (see formula)

• Labor rate (specified by the machine property Labor Rate)

• Final yield (see Yields for Investment Casting)

Labor Time =

(Labor Independent Process Time * Number of Operators * Labor Time Standard) +

Labor Handling Time

Labor time depends on the following:

• Labor-independent process time: see Labor Independent Process Time, below.

• Number of Operators: specified by the machine property Number of Operators.

• Labor time standard: specified by the machine property Labor Time Standard. This multiplier is used to account for otherwise unaccounted for factors that affect labor time, such as operator fatigue or time spent by the operator for cleaning or maintenance.

• Labor handling time: see formula

Labor Handling Time =

Part Handling Process Time * Number of Handling Operators

Labor handling time depends on the following:

• Part handling process time: see formula.

• Number of handling operators: looked up by Tree Wax Weight in the lookup table tblHandlingTimes.

Cycle Time = Labor Independent Process Time * Cycle Time Adjustment Factor

Cycle time depends on the following:

• Labor-independent process time: see formula.

Labor Independent Process Time = Flash Fire Soak Time /

(Number Trees in Flash Fire Furnace * Num Wax Patterns on Tree)

Part soak time depends on the following:

• Flash fire soak time: by default, this is looked up by the number of shell layers in the lookup table tblFlashFireFurnaceSoakTime. The number of shell layers is the total number of dip cycles used to create the shell—see Primary Slurry Dipping Feasibility and Secondary Slurry Dipping Feasibility. Users can override the default soak time with the setup option Flash Fire Furnace Soak Time.

• Number of trees in flash furnace: by default, this is the number of trees that can fit in the furnace (see Flash Fire De-Waxing Machine Selection, bounded above by the machine property Number of Drainage Cups (or, if the machine property is not populated, the cost model variable defaultMaxNumTreesInFlashFireFurnace—9 in starting point Digital Factories). Users can override the default with the setup option Number of Trees in Flash Fire Furnace.

• Num wax patterns on tree: see Number of Parts per Tree.

Part Handling Process Time = Part Load Time + Part Unload Time

Part handling process time is the sum of the following:

• Part load time: see formula.

• Part unload time: see formula.

Part Load Time = Load Time per Tree / Num Wax Patterns on Tree

Part load time depends on the following:

• Load time per tree: specified by the cost model variable defaultLoadTimePerTree_flashFireFurnace (300 seconds in starting point Digital Factories).

• Num wax patterns on tree: see Number of Parts per Tree.

Part Unload Time = Unload Time per Tree / Num Wax Patterns on Tree

Part load time depends on the following:

• Unload time per tree: specified by the cost model variable defaultUnloadTimePerTree_flashFireFurnace (300 seconds in starting point Digital Factories).

• Num wax patterns on tree: see Number of Parts per Tree.