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 a site variable
- 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2-Model Machining | Medium | Yes | This release improves the accuracy of roughing time estimates by extracting some features as Pocket or Slot GCDs that were previously included in the BulkRemoval GCD. It is not necessary to upgrade your cost model version to leverage this new capability. However, the new cost model improves the accuracy of cycle time estimates for Pockets and Slots from the source model that are enlarged in the target model. Such estimates may be inflated if you do not upgrade your cost model. In a large set of customer parts, fewer than 10% of parts had enlarged pockets. To restore the behavior of the previous release, set both the site variables pocketExtractionEnabled and slotExtractionEnabled to false. |
| Assembly | Medium | Yes | This release introduces new GCD types that support the modeling of welding, sealing, and bonding. The extraction of the new GCD types does not affect users of old cost models, except for the appearance of the new GCDs in the Geometric Cost Drivers pane. You can restore the previous extraction behavior (for use with previous cost models only) by setting the site variable enableContactAnalysis to false. |
| Casting - Die | 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, cool time, machining times and costs, and design guidance. If you do not upgrade to the latest cost model version (120), you must restore the previous default behavior. Set the site variable isCastMachinedExtractionEnabled to false. |
| Casting - Die (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, cool time, 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 - castThicknessAlgorithm: Legacy Voxel-Based - minCastableHoleDiameter: 2.00 - minCastableHoleWallThickness: 0.76 - minCastableRingWidth: 2.00 |
| Casting - Investment | Medium | Yes | This release improves the algorithm used to determine part thickness values by using smaller voxels and more inclusive voxel samples. This improvement can affect machine selection, material cost, tooling cost, machining times and costs, and design guidance. To restore use of the previous thickness algorithm, set the site variable castThicknessAlgorithm to Legacy Voxel-Based. |
| Casting - Sand | 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, cool time, machining times and costs, and design guidance. If you do not upgrade to the latest cost model version (120), you must restore the previous default behavior. Set the site variable isCastMachinedExtractionEnabled to false: |
| Casting - Sand (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, cool time, 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 - castThicknessAlgorithm: Legacy Voxel-Based - minCastableHoleDiameter: 6.40 - minCastableHoleWallThickness: 5.00 - minCastableRingWidth: 6.40 |
| PCB | Low | No | Cost engine change: this release makes a slight modification to division-by-zero handling within the cost engine. All cost model versions shipped with this release have been adjusted to accommodate this change. The effects of the change are invisible unless all the following hold: - You are using CMV0 or CMV10. - You have configured the library libFunctionsUtils.csl. - You are costing a 1-layer or 2-layer board. In this case, the board fails to cost with an error message indicating that the extracted board thickness is too small. Contact aPriori Customer Support for information on adjusting the library's code to accommodate the cost engine change. |
| Sheet Metal | Low | No | In the previous release, in rare cases aPriori could underestimate the blank size of some sheet metal parts that included convex-rounded edges. This could result in inaccurate part nesting and material costs. In this release, aPriori correctly recognizes the edge radii of the rounded areas and estimates the blank size more accurately. |
| Sheet Metal - Hydroforming | Low | No | In the previous release, in rare cases aPriori could underestimate the blank size of some sheet metal parts that included convex-rounded edges. This could result in inaccurate part nesting and material costs. In this release, aPriori correctly recognizes the edge radii of the rounded areas and estimates the blank size more accurately. |
| Sheet Metal - Stretch Forming | Low | No | In the previous release, in rare cases aPriori incorrectly extracted certain areas of reduced thickness as NotSupported GCDs and so failed to account for the cost of reducing blank thickness for these areas. In this release, these areas are now extracted as Form or Stamp GCDs, and their cost is properly accounted for. |
| Sheet Metal - Transfer Die | Low | No | In the previous release, in rare cases aPriori could underestimate the blank size of some sheet metal parts that included convex-rounded edges. This could result in inaccurate part nesting and material costs. In this release, aPriori correctly recognizes the edge radii of the rounded areas and estimates the blank size more accurately. |
| Stock Machining | Medium | Yes: Must be disabled if you are not upgrading to the latest cost model version. | This release improves roughing time estimates by extracting multiple StockTrim GCDs per part (instead of just one). If you do not upgrade to the latest cost model version (150), you must restore the previous default behavior. Set the site variable enableMultipleStockTrims to false. |
| Stock Machining (continued) | Medium | No | This release improves roughing time estimates by recognizing more features as Pocket GCDs (instead of including them in the BulkRemoval GCD). |
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 Major Releases |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2-Model Machining | YES | NO | NO | 80, 70, 60 |
| Additive Manufacturing | NO | NO | NO | 110, 100/90, 80/70 |
| Assembly | NO | NO | YES | 170, 160/150, 140/130 |
| Assembly Molding | NO | NO | NO | 80, 70/60, 50/40 |
| Assembly Plastic Molding | NO | NO | NO | 30, 20/10, 5/0 |
| Bar &Tube | NO | NO | YES | 190, 180/170,160/150 |
| Casting - Die | YES | NO | YES | 120, 110/100, 90/80 |
| Casting - Investment | NO | NO | NO | 40, 30/20, 10/0 |
| Casting - Sand | YES | NO | YES | 120, 110/100, 90/80 |
| Composites | NO | NO | NO | 50, 40, 30/20 |
| Forging | NO | NO | NO | 170, 160/150, 140/130 |
| Heat Treatment | NO | NO | NO | 120, 110/100, 100 |
| Machining | YES | NO | YES | 250, 240/230, 220/210 |
| Other Secondary Processes | NO | NO | NO | 120, 110, 110 |
| PCB | YES | NO | NO | 20, 10/0, N/A |
| Part Assembly | NO | NO | NO | 80, 70, 70 |
| Plastic Molding | NO | NO | YES | 200, 190/180, 170/160 |
| Powder Metal | NO | NO | NO | 110, 100, 90/80 |
| Rotational & Blow Molding | NO | NO | NO | 130, 120, 110/100 |
| Sheet Metal | YES | NO | NO | 230, 220/210, 200/190 |
| Sheet Metal - Hydroforming | YES | NO | NO | 80, 70/60, 50/40 |
| Sheet Metal – Stretch Forming | YES | NO | NO | 80, 70, 60/50 |
| Sheet Metal – Transfer Die | YES | NO | YES | 120, 110, 100/90 |
| Sheet Plastic | NO | NO | NO | 110, 100, 90 |
| Stock Machining | YES | NO | YES | 150, 140/130, 120/110 |
| Surface Treatment | NO | NO | YES | 190, 180/170, 160/150 |
| User Guided | NO | NO | NO | 50, 40, 30 |