Change Summary Tables¶
Geometry and Cost Engine Changes¶
The table below contains a row for each geometry or cost engine change. Each row lists the following:
- Process group to which the change applies
- Impact level of the change (High, Medium, or Low)
- Whether the change can be disabled using site variables
- Description of the change and its impact
Changes are geometry changes unless explicitly labeled Cost engine change in the description.
The entries are arranged alphabetically by process group.
You can use this table to guide you in performing Step 2 and Step 3 of impact assessment (see Impact Assessment Steps). Click on the name of a process group in the first column to get more information on changes for that process group.
| Process Group | Impact Level | Can be Disabled? | Impact Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| All Process Groups | Low | No | Cost engine change: In the previous release, aPriori selected a preferred routing by first selecting the routings with the fewest uncosted GCDs,not including uncosted Edge GCDs; from these it then selected the lowest-cost routing. In this release, Edge GCDs are included in the count of uncosted GCDs. This change affects routing selection only in very rare cases. |
| Assembly | Low | Yes | aPriori no longer extracts Contact Region GCDs corresponding to very small regions of contact, which likely are unintentional modeling errors or do not represent valid joining surfaces. As a result, in the rare cases involving very small contact regions, some clamping and sealing costs may decrease compared to the previous release. To restore the behavior of the previous release, set the values of both the site variables minContactRegionLengthMm and minContactRegionAreaMm to 0.00. |
| Assembly Molding | Low | Yes | This release improves the determination of draw direction by changing the default value of the site variable drawDirPinHoleFactor from 1.0 to 0.25. This can affect the draw direction for parts with ejector pin bosses that are not aligned with the natural draw direction. To restore the behavior of the previous release, set the value of the site variable drawDirPinHoleFactor to 1.0 |
| Assembly Plastic Molding | Low | Yes | This release improves the determination of draw direction by changing the default value of the site variable drawDirPinHoleFactor from 1.0 to 0.25. This can affect the draw direction for parts with ejector pin bosses that are not aligned with the natural draw direction. To restore the behavior of the previous release, set the value of the site variable drawDirPinHoleFactor to 1.0 |
| Bar & Tube Fab | Medium | No | In the previous release, aPriori did not recognize a part as a custom extrusion if its cross-section contained a curve that was not an arc. For such parts, aPriori displayed the message aPriori cannot find the requested stock form. In this release, aPriori recognizes such extrusions and can estimate their manufacturability and cost. |
| Casting - Die | Low | Yes | This release corrects a problem that caused the extraction of turning axes for parts that in practice would be milled rather than turned. As a result, routings and costs may change. To restore the behavior of the previous release, set the minTurnAxisAreaRatio to 0.00. |
| Casting - Investment | High | Yes: Must be disabled if you are not upgrading to the latest cost model version. | This release supports partially-cast volumes, which are cast with extra material that is to be removed by a subsequent rough milling operation. This can affect the determination of part thickness values, as well as machine selection, material cost, tooling cost, machining times and costs, and design guidance. If you do not upgrade to the latest cost model version (50), you must restore the previous default behavior. Set the site variable isCastMachinedExtractionEnabled to false. |
| Casting - Investment (continued) | High | Yes | This release includes various improvements that can affect the determination of part thickness values, as well as machine selection, material cost, tooling cost, machining times and costs, and design guidance. You can restore the previous default behavior by setting all the following site variables to the values shown: - enableMaterialTypeGCDExtraction: false - minCastableHoleDiameter: 6.40 - minCastableHoleWallThickness: 5.00 - minCastableRingWidth: 6.40 |
| Casting - Investment(continued) | Low | Yes | This release also corrects a problem that caused the extraction of turning axes for parts that in practice would be milled rather than turned. As a result, routings and costs may change. To restore the behavior of the previous release, set the minTurnAxisAreaRatio to 0.00. |
| Casting - Sand | Low | Yes | This release corrects a problem that caused the extraction of turning axes for parts that in practice would be milled rather than turned. As a result, routings and costs may change. To restore the behavior of the previous release, set the minTurnAxisAreaRatio to 0.00. |
| PCB | Medium | Yes | This release improves the extraction of holes and cutouts by supporting their extraction from layer files as well as drill files. It also improves the extraction of the board outline. Times and costs may change as a result. To restore the behavior of the previous release, set all the following site variables to the values shown: - contourSizeToleranceRatio: 0.15 - outlineToleranceRatio: 0.15 - minInternalCutoutAreaMm2: a very large value, such as 250,000.00. - minInternalHoleDiameterMm: a very large value, such as 250,000.00. |
| Plastic Molding | Low | Yes | This release improves the determination of draw direction by changing the default value of the site variabledrawDirPinHoleFactor. This can affect the draw direction for parts with ejector pin bosses that are not aligned with the natural draw direction. To restore the behavior of the previous release, set the value of the site variabledrawDirPinHoleFactorto 1.0. |
| Sheet Metal | Medium | Partially | This release improves the extraction of the following geometric properties: - Various Complex Hole properties: the changes affect times and costs only in very rare cases. - Form properties Depth Up and Depth Down: the change affects times and costs only in rare cases. - Straight Bend property Bend Flap Size: the change has only minor impact on times and costs, and it can occasionally impact design guidance. To restore the behavior of the previous release, set the site variable flattenBendFlapSize to false. |
| Sheet Metal - Hydroforming | Medium | Partially | This release improves the extraction of the following geometric properties: - Various Complex Hole properties: the changes affect times and costs only in very rare cases. - Form properties Depth Up and Depth Down: the change affects times and costs only in rare cases. - Straight Bend property Bend Flap Size: the change has only minor impact on times and costs, and it can occasionally impact design guidance. To restore the behavior of the previous release, set the site variable flattenBendFlapSize to false. |
| Sheet Metal - Roll Forming | Medium | Partially | This release improves the extraction of the following geometric properties: - Form properties Depth Up and Depth Down: the change affects times and costs only in rare cases. - Straight Bend property Bend Flap Size: the change has only minor impact on times and costs, and it can occasionally impact design guidance. To restore the behavior of the previous release, set the site variable flattenBendFlapSize to false. |
| Sheet Metal - Stretch Forming | Medium | No | This release improves the extraction of the following geometric properties: - Various Complex Hole properties: the changes affect times and costs only in very rare cases. - Form properties Depth Up and Depth Down: the change affects times and costs only in rare cases. In addition, material removal by Chemical Milling previously could result in Edge GCDs with Edge Type Chamfer. In this release, such Edge GCDs have Edge Type Sharp. Some times and costs may go down as a result. |
| Sheet Metal - Transfer Die | Medium | Partially | This release improves the extraction of the following geometric properties: - Various Complex Hole properties: the changes affect times and costs only in very rare cases. - Form properties Depth Up and Depth Down: the change affects times and costs only in rare cases. - Straight Bend property Bend Flap Size: the change has only minor impact on times and costs, and it can occasionally impact design guidance. To restore the behavior of the previous release, set the site variable flattenBendFlapSize to false. |
Before you upgrade, review the process groups you use, and identify the ones have that have changes with cost impact. Once you have determined whether to accept or disable each High-impact geometry or cost engine change for the process groups that you use, you can upgrade to the new release. If there are no High-impact geometry or cost engine changes, you can upgrade to the new release.
aPriori also recommends that you review the cost model changes as well as the Low- and Medium-impact geometry and cost engine changes for the process groups you use.
All Changes¶
The table below indicates which categories of change impact each process group, as well as the cost model versions supported in the last three releases.
Process names in the table’s first column link to process-group-specific sections which can help you to perform Steps 3 and 4 of your impact assessments (see Impact Assessment Steps). Each of the sections contains summary tables as well as change details grouped by the following three categories:
- Geometry or cost engine changes that could impact configured Digital Factories: these are changes that might impact costing even for Digital Factories that use earlier cost model versions.
- Bug fixes or small improvements to prior cost model versions that could impact configured Digital Factories: these are back-ported bug fixes, which might impact costing for Digital Factories that use earlier cost model versions.
- Cost model changes that do not affect configured Digital Factories: these are changes that do not affect costings with Digital Factories that use earlier cost model versions.
| Process Group | Geometry or Cost Engine Changes | Bug Fixes or Small Improvements to Prior Cost Model Versions | Changes to New Cost Model Version | Cost Model Versions Supported in the Last 3 Releases |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2-Model Machining | NO | NO | NO | 80, 80, 70 |
| Additive Manufacturing | NO | NO | NO | 120, 110, 100 |
| Assembly | YES | NO | YES | 180, 170, 160 |
| Assembly Molding | YES | NO | YES | 90, 80, 70 |
| Assembly Plastic Molding | YES | NO | YES | 40, 30, 20 |
| Bar &Tube | NO | NO | NO | 200, 190, 180 |
| Casting - Die | YES | NO | NO | 130, 120, 110 |
| Casting - Investment | YES | NO | YES | 50, 40, 30 |
| Casting - Sand | YES | NO | NO | 130, 120, 110 |
| Composites | NO | NO | NO | 50, 50, 40 |
| Forging | NO | NO | NO | 180, 170, 160 |
| Heat Treatment | NO | NO | NO | 130, 120, 110 |
| Machining | NO | NO | YES | 260, 250, 240 |
| Multi-Spindle Machining | NO | NO | YES | 20, 10, 0 |
| Other Secondary Processes | NO | NO | NO | 130, 120, 110 |
| PCB | YES | NO | NO | 30, 20, 10 |
| Part Assembly | NO | NO | NO | 80, 80, 70 |
| Plastic Molding | YES | NO | YES | 220, 200, 190 |
| Powder Metal | NO | NO | NO | 110, 110, 100 |
| Rotational & Blow Molding | NO | NO | NO | 140, 130, 120 |
| Sheet Metal | YES | NO | YES | 240, 230, 220 |
| Sheet Metal - Hydroforming | YES | NO | NO | 90, 80, 70 |
| Sheet Metal – Roll Forming | YES | NO | NO | 10, 0, N/A |
| Sheet Metal – Stretch Forming | YES | NO | NO | 80, 80, 70 |
| Sheet Metal – Transfer Die | YES | NO | NO | 130, 120, 110 |
| Sheet Plastic | NO | NO | NO | 120, 110, 100 |
| Stock Machining | YES | NO | NO | 160, 150, 140 |
| Surface Treatment | NO | NO | NO | 200, 190, 180 |
| User Guided | NO | NO | NO | 50, 50, 40 |