Powder Coat Cart Inputs

Powder Cost Cart provides the following PSOs:

Top Coat Powder

This setup option affects cycle time, Additional Direct Costs, and several Powder Coat Cart setup options. It is also referenced in the Oven Cure cycle time calculation.

This specifies the type of powder used for the top coat. By default, aPriori selects the powder in the Digital Factory tool shop materials table (under Surface Treatment > Processes > Powder Coat Cart > Tool Shops > Default) with Coating Type set to Top Coat and Is Default Powder set to true.

With this setup option, users can override the default on a per-part basis by selecting an alternative from the drop-down list. The list shows only powders that have a Coating Type of Top Coat in the tool shop materials table.

Top Coat Thickness

This setup option affects cycle time.

This specifies the thickness of the top coat of powder applied to the part. By default, aPriori selects the Baseline Coat Thickness value in the Digital Factory tool shop materials table (under Surface Treatment > Processes > Powder Coat Cart > Tool Shops > Default) that corresponds to the powder being used for the Top Coat Powder setup option. The default for the top coat powders in starting point Digital Factories is 60 microns.

With this setup option, users can override the default on a per-part basis.

Top Coat Powder Flow Rate

This setup option affects cycle time.

This specifies the rate that the top coat powder is applied by each powder gun. By default, Top Coat Powder Flow Rate is specified by the cost model variable defaultPowderCoatingTopCoatFlowRate. This is set to 500 grams/minute in starting point Digital Factories.

With this setup option, users can override the default on a per-part basis.

Clear Coat Powder

This setup option affects cycle time, Additional Direct Costs, and several Powder Coat Cart setup options. It is also referenced in the Oven Cure cycle time calculation.

This specifies the type of powder used for the clear coat. By default, aPriori selects the powder in the Digital Factory tool shop materials table (under Surface Treatment > Processes > Powder Coat Cart > Tool Shops > Default) with Coating Type set to Clear Coat and Is Default Powder set to true.

With this setup option, users can override the default on a per-part basis by selecting an alternative from the drop-down list. The list shows only powders that have a Coating Type of Clear Coat in the tool shop materials table. Note that users have the option not to apply a clear coat by selecting the clear coat powder named Do Not Apply A Clear Coat.

Clear Coat Thickness

This setup option affects cycle time.

This specifies the thickness of the clear coat of powder applied to the part. This process setup option is not used if no clear coat is applied. By default, aPriori selects the Baseline Coat Thickness value in the Digital Factory tool shop materials table (under Surface Treatment > Processes > Powder Coat Cart > Tool Shops > Default) that corresponds to the powder being used for the Clear Coat Powder setup option. The default for the clear coat powders in starting point Digital Factories is 60 microns.

With this setup option, users can override the default on a per-part basis.

Clear Coat Powder Flow Rate

This setup option affects cycle time.

This specifies the rate that the clear coat powder is applied by each powder gun. This process setup option is not used if no clear coat is applied. By default, Clear Coat Powder Flow Rate is specified by the cost model variable defaultPowderCoatingClearCoatFlowRate. This is set to 500 grams/minute in starting point Digital Factories.

With this setup option, users can override the default on a per-part basis.

Fraction of Part Area that is Powder Coated

This setup option affects cycle time. It is also affected by the Fraction Part Masked setup option for the Mask-Bench process.

This specifies the fraction of the external surface area of the part that is powder coated. By default, if the Mask-Bench process is included in the routing, aPriori calculates the fraction as: 1 - Fraction Part Masked, where Fraction Part Masked is the Mask-Bench setup option which defines the fraction of the total part surface area that is masked with tape. For example, if Fraction Part Masked = 0.6 (60%), Fraction of Part Area that is Powder Coated = (1 - 0.6) = 0.4 (40%). See Fraction Part Masked for more information.

Otherwise, if the Mask-Bench process is not included in the routing, aPriori uses the value of the cost model variable defaultFractionOfSurfaceAreaPowderCoated. This is set to 1 (100%) in starting point Digital Factories.

With this setup option, users can override the default on a per-part basis. This can be any value between 0.01 and 1.

Number of Parts Per Cart

This setup option affects machine selection and cycle time. It is also referenced in the Oven Cure cycle time calculation.

This specifies the number of parts that are on each cart. By default, aPriori determines this number using a formula which performs a weight limit calculation, a size limit calculation, and part batch size calculation, selects the smallest of those values then, if the selected value is greater than 1, uses it as the value for Number of Parts Per Cart; otherwise, aPriori uses 1 as the value.

In more detail, the process is as follows:

  1. Weight Limit: aPriori divides the maximum combined weight of parts that can be loaded onto the cart (as specified by the Cart Weight Limit machine property) by the finished mass of the part.

  2. Size Limit: aPriori checks that the selected Powder Coat Cart and Oven Cure machines are feasible and that the part can be fitted in the same orientation within the machines. aPriori selects whichever of the following orientations maximizes the number of parts that can fit on the same cart inside the Powder Coat Cart machine (and the Oven Cure machine if it is included in the routing).

    • Part Length parallel with Booth Max Dimension and Part Width parallel with Booth Height.

    • Part Length parallel with Booth Height and Part Width parallel with Booth Max Dimension.

    • Part Length parallel with Booth Min Dimension and Part Width parallel with Booth Height.

    • Part Length parallel with Booth Height and Part Width parallel with Booth Min Dimension.

    In this calculation, Booth Max Dimension is the maximum dimension between its length and width, and Booth Min Dimension is the minimum dimension between its length and width. (When the Oven Cure process is included, aPriori includes Oven Max Dimension and Oven Min Dimension in its calculation.) The parameters in the formula make use of the following cost model variables to calculate part spacing on the cart:

    • powderCoatCartSpacingFactor: Factor that is applied to the width of the part to calculate the minimum spacing between parts on the cart (0.5 by default).

    • powderCoatCartMaxPartSpacing: The maximum required spacing between parts on the cart (300mm by default).

    • powderCoatCartMinPartSpacing: The minimum required spacing between parts on the cart (50mm by default).

  3. aPriori calculates the size of a production batch. This is specified in the Production Scenario tab of the Cost Guide.

  4. aPriori selects the smallest of the above three values and, if it is greater than 1, uses it as the default for the Number of Parts Per Cart setting. The final number is always at least 1. If the calculated result is 0 (which can happen only if the user overrides machine feasibility checks), the Number of Parts Per Cart is nevertheless assumed to be 1.

Users can override the default value on a per-part basis with this setup option. The minimum value allowed is 1.

Number of Powder Guns

This setup option affects cycle time.

This specifies the number of powder guns that are used to apply the powder to the surface of the part. By default, this is specified by the Number of Powder Guns machine property.

With this setup option, users can override the default on a per-part basis. The minimum value is 1.