Draw Direction Enhancements

Significant Improvement in GCD Extraction Times

The computation of draw direction was parallelized and refactored to reduce GCD extraction time while preserving the accuracy of the selected draw direction. This enhancement affects all process groups that extract draw direction, including: Casting-Die, Casting-Investment, Casting-Sand, Plastic Molding, Assembly Molding, Assembly Plastic Molding, Sheet Plastic, Additive Manufacturing, Forging, Power Metal, and Roto & Blow Molding.

In 2024 R1 SP1, GCD extraction times have been significantly reduced due to these improvements in the draw direction computation. In a suite of test parts, GCD extraction times decreased by roughly 20%, with little to no differences in the computed draw direction.

aPriori uses a ray-tracing approach to determine draw direction. The values of the site variables drawDirMaxRayDirs and drawDirMaxRays have been optimized for each process group. Previously these values were the same for each process group, with very conservative values. Now aPriori analyzes fewer candidate directions using fewer rays, resulting in significantly improved GCD extraction times without affecting the computed draw direction.