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Casting - Die

Geometry or Cost Engine Changes that Could Impact Configured Digital Factories

The following changes might impact costing, even for Digital Factories that use earlier cost model versions.

  • Pocket-like Features and SimpleHole Extraction: In the previous release, aPriori sometimes incorrectly determined that a cylindrical portion or portions of a pocket-like feature could be created by drilling or turning (and so it extracted a corresponding SimpleHole). This release corrects the problem; aPriori and no longer extracts a SimpleHole when creation of cylindrical portions via drilling or turning is not possible due to interference from nearby features. Instead, aPriori extracts a different GCD, such as a Void, and assigns appropriate milling operations. This change has a minimal impact on manufacturing estimates on average. In a large test set, the change affected only a small number of parts, and the increase in fully-burdened cost was less than 1%.

Bug Fixes or Small Improvements to Prior Cost Model Versions

The following changes might impact costing for Digital Factories that use earlier cost model versions.

  • NO IMPACT

Cost Model Changes that Do Not Affect Configured Digital Factories

The following changes do not affect costings with Digital Factories that use earlier cost model versions. The changes are available only in the latest cost model version.

  • Ladle Time (impacts Cycle Time): In the previous release, the process time attributed to Ladle Time did not consider the time required to ladle molten metal into multiple cavities for High Pressure Die Casting (HPDC) and Gravity Die Casting (GDC). In this release, the Ladle Time calculation for HPDC and GDC has been updated to account for multiple cavities. In a set of test parts, cycle time and fully-burdened cost increased as follows:

    • High Pressure Die Casting:
      • Fully-burdened cost increase: maximum $2.45 (2.08%); average $0.24 (0.61%); median $0.03 (0.44%).
      • Cycle time increase: maximum 37.5 seconds (16.7%); average 4.1 seconds (2.71%); median 1.12 seconds (1.07%). (The maximum increase was driven by two HPDC parts which were larger in volume compared with others (9,380,313 mm^3 and 1,642,605 mm^3), therefore requiring more time to fill multiple cavities.)
    • Gravity Die Casting:
      • Fully-burdened cost increase: maximum $1.15 (0.59%); average $0.13 (0.2%); median $0.02 (0.21%).
      • Cycle time increase: maximum 48.79 seconds (3.82%); average 5.92 seconds (0.96%); median 1.35 seconds (0.61%).

  • Core Refractory Coat (impacts Additional Direct Costs): In the previous release, the coating used in the Core Refractory Coat process was assumed to cost $2.48/L in all cases. In this release, users can specify either Water-Based coating ($1.00/L, the default in starting point Digital Factories), or Solvent-Based coating ($6.39/L, the default in starting point Digital Factories).

    The coating costs are specified in the Core Refractory Coat tool shop. The default coating type is specified by the cost model variable defaultRefractoryBaseLiquid (the default value in starting point Digital Factories is Water-Based). Users can override the default on a per-part basis with the Refractory Base Liquid setup option provided by the Refractory Coat Cores node in the Process Options Editor.

    In a set of test parts, with default settings (Water-Based), the following costs decreased compared to the previous release:

    • Average fully-burdened cost decreased between around 1.5% and around 5% (dependent on the size of the part and the size of the core; the larger the part-to-core ratio, the smaller the impact).
    • Average additional direct costs decreased between around 22% and around 55% (dependent on the size of the core; the smaller the core, the larger the impact). Note that users on previous cost model versions who update their RDLs will see the new value for the default coating type ($1.00/L instead of $2.48/L).

  • Sustainability Insights for Gravity Die Casting Routings (impacts carbon estimates): aPriori now estimates carbon emissions (CO2e) for parts manufactured by the Gravity Die Casting routing. (You must have a license for the Sustainability module to access this functionality.)