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Forging

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.

  • NO IMPACT

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 (CMV270).

Note:

These are the third in a series of planned enhancements to the Forging cost model. Further enhancements will be released in 25.1.2. Customers who already are using a configured Closed-Die Forging model may wish to delay upgrading their cost model until these additional enhancements are available. Please consult your aPriori account team or aPriori Support for planning purposes.

  • Mechanical Press (affects tooling cost, machine selection, and feasibility): This release includes the following changes to the Mechanical Press model:

    • Tooling: the model now accounts for tooling cost, taking into account tool life and costs for tool material, machining, and optional plating.
    • Machine selection: this release supplements the press force check with a daylight check (to ensure the billet and forged part can be loaded onto and unloaded from the machine), shut height check (to ensure the machine can accommodate the mold), and table dimensions check (to ensure the tool can fit on the machine bed).
    • Feasibility: by default, the process is now feasible only for mults that are no more than 4 inches in width (diameter or cross-section diagonal) and that have a length-to-width ratio is at least 2. With Preheat -> Mechanical Press routings, fully burdened cost increases around 12%, compared to the previous release (CMV260). For a set of test parts, the increases ranged from 6–17%.

  • Mechanical Press and Hammer (affects, cycle time, overhead, and tooling cost): Mechanical Press is now auto evaluated, and Hammer must be manually selected. A routing change from Hammer to Mechanical Press using Preheat increases fully burdened cost by around 13%. For a set of test parts, the increases ranged from 5–18%.

  • New Process: Conveyor Induction Heat: This release introduces a new process, Conveyor Induction Heat, which, like Preheat, models heating a mult in preparation for forging. With Conveyor Induction Heat, mults are loaded onto a conveyor and heated as they travel through an oven. This process is appropriate for smaller parts and higher production volumes.

    With a Hammer routing, using Conveyor Induction Heat in this release (instead of using Preheat with the previous release) decreases fully burdened cost by about 2%. In a set of test parts, decreases ranged from 1–3%.

    With a Mechanical Press Routing, using Conveyor Induction Heat in this release (instead of Preheat with the previous release) increases fully burdened cost by about 6%. In a set of test parts, increases ranged from 1–9%. Some of this change in cost is due to the changes to Mechanical Press described above.

  • Preheat and Reheat (impacts cycle time and overhead): This release changes the calculation of cycle time and overhead values for Preheat and Reheat.

    • Cycle time: Previously, the heat time portion of cycle time was the part's elapsed time in the oven. In this release, the elapsed time is amortized over the number of parts in the oven, so cycle time typically decreases significantly compared to the previous release.
    • Direct overhead: Previously, direct overhead used a value for cycle time whose heat time component was appropriately amortized over the number of parts in the oven, but whose handling time was inappropriately amortized over the number of parts in the oven (since handling time was already calculated as a per-part value). This release corrects the problem, resulting in an increase in direct overhead due to an increase in the handling time value used for the direct overhead calculation. For Preheat > Hammer routings, fully burdened cost increases about 5%, compared to the previous release. For a set of test parts, the increase range was 2–8%. These cost changes are the result of the Preheat changes as well as the change to stock selection described below, which can affect the number of hits in the Hammer process.

  • Stock Selection: This release improves the estimate of machined volume used by stock selection. As a result, the mult volume for a given part can increase, compared to the previous release.

  • Sustainability Insights: This release calculates material and process carbon estimates for all processes in the model. Process carbon emissions are based on the processing time and machine energy used, except for Hammer, Mechanical Press, and Conveyor Induction Heat, which use a more mechanistic energy calculation based on he energy required to heat or deform the billet.
  • Regionalized Tooling Estimates: Previously, for the Hammer, Press, and Trim processes, the Forging model calculated the same tooling cost for every region. The tooling model for these processes now considers geographic region, resulting in more accurate tooling estimates.

In a set of test parts, using aPriori-selected default routings, fully burdened cost increased by around 8%, compared to the previous release. Increases ranged from 0–18%.