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Design Guidance Enhancements

Prioritized Design Guidance for Die Casting

aP Pro 2026 R1 SP2 and version CMV 240 of the Casting - Die manufacturing process model introduce prioritized design guidance for the Casting - Die process group. Design issues are now classified as Critical, Major, or Minor, enabling engineers to quickly identify the most significant manufacturability concerns for die cast parts. You can customize threshold values in the Digital Factory to reflect your organization's casting standards.

The following categories of Casting - Die rules now provide prioritized design guidance:

  • Draw Direction and Geometry Accessibility: Draw Direction Inaccessibility issues, which prevent casting from the primary draw direction, are severity-classified.

  • Wall and Section Thickness: the Minimum Wall Thickness (thin section), Maximum Wall Thickness (thick section), and Thin Wall Around Hole (hole proximity) rules are severity-classified, with thresholds that vary by casting process and material.

  • Hole and Edge Geometry: the Insufficient Hole Diameter, Insufficient External Edge Radius, Insufficient Internal Edge Radius, and Minimum Edge Radius on the Parting Line rules are severity-classified for geometry that may be difficult or impossible to cast.

  • Insufficient Draft Angle: draft angle guidance distinguishes between conditions that prevent casting and those that increase tooling cost, with thresholds that vary by casting process and material.

  • High Hole Length-to-Diameter Ratios -- the Maximum Hole Depth and Blind Hole rules provide length-to-diameter guidance, reported as High Through Hole Length to Diameter Ratio and High Blind Hole Length to Diameter Ratio.

  • Tolerances: hole tolerance and surface tolerance rules are classified with severity levels, consistent with the approach used in Machining and other process groups.

  • Threaded Features: threaded feature rules are severity-classified in this release.

  • Core Making Guidance: insufficient hole diameter guidance is now also applied at the core making process level, using the gravity die casting threshold value as the default.

aP Pro 2026 R1 SP2 also aligns the suggested values reported by the minimum hole diameter, hole length-to-diameter, and minimum wall thickness rules, so that resolving one design issue on a hole also resolves the related issues on that hole. The Design Guidance tab now displays the minimum and maximum wall thickness recommendations for Casting - Die.

aP Pro 2026 R1 SP2 adds the manufacturabilitySeverity lookup table to the Casting - Die process model. This table stores severity thresholds for all classified rules and enables Digital Factory administrators to customize values. The minimum hole diameter and minimum wall thickness thresholds defined in this table are also used during geometry extraction to determine whether holes are castable or require machining, ensuring alignment between geometry determination and design guidance.

This release also adds the adviceRules lookup table to the Casting - Die process model. This allows Digital Factory administrators to enable or disable individual advice rules to align design feedback with their manufacturing standards.

Geometry extraction

Geometry extraction for Casting - Die now uses the Insufficient Hole Diameter and Min Wall Thickness threshold values from the manufacturabilitySeverity table. (The lookup tables tblMinHoleDiameter and tblWallThickness have been deprecated.) If a Digital Factory administrator modifies threshold values in manufacturabilitySeverity after geometry has been extracted, the geometry data and the design guidance thresholds may become out of sync. A warning is displayed in these cases to prompt geometry re-extraction. Re-extracting geometry updates the geometry to reflect the new thresholds.

Prioritized Design Guidance for Investment Casting

aP Pro 2026 R1 SP2 and version CMV 140 of the Casting - Investment manufacturing process model introduce prioritized design guidance for the Casting - Investment process group. Design issues are now classified as Critical, Major, or Minor, enabling engineers to quickly identify the most significant manufacturability concerns for investment cast parts. You can customize threshold values in the Digital Factory to reflect your organization's casting standards.

The following categories of Casting - Investment rules now provide prioritized design guidance:

  • Draw Direction and Geometry Accessibility: the Draw Direction Inaccessibility, Slide Accessibility, and Slide Blocked Volume rules are severity-classified for geometry that cannot be cast from the primary draw direction or that requires slides to form.

  • Wall and Section Thickness: the Minimum Wall Thickness (thin section), Maximum Wall Thickness (thick section) and Thin Wall Around Hole (hole proximity) rules are severity-classified, with thresholds that vary by material.

  • Hole and Edge Geometry: the Minimum Opening Width, Minimum Hole Wall Thickness, Minimum Internal Radius, and Minimum External Radius rules are severity-classified for geometry that may be difficult or impossible to cast.

  • Insufficient Draft Angle: the Minimum Draft Angle rule distinguishes between conditions that prevent casting and those that increase tooling cost.

  • Tolerances: tolerance rules are classified with severity levels, consistent with the approach used in Machining and other process groups.

  • Threaded Features: threaded feature rules are severity-classified in this release.

  • Tree Mass Handling: the Tree Mass Handling rule is classified as a Cost Driver, so that it displays correctly as a cost driver in the Design Guidance tab, the Design Guidance section of the Part Details tab, the Part Design Guidance Spreadsheet Report, and the Design Guidance Issues tab in aP Design.

aP Pro 2026 R1 SP2 also aligns the suggested values reported by the minimum hole diameter, hole length-to-diameter, and minimum wall thickness rules, so that resolving one design issue on a hole also resolves the related issues on that hole. The Design Guidance tab displays the minimum and maximum wall thickness recommendations for Casting - Investment.

aP Pro 2026 R1 SP2 adds the manufacturabilitySeverity lookup table to the Casting - Investment process model. This table stores severity thresholds for all classified rules and enables Digital Factory administrators to customize values. The minimum hole diameter and minimum wall thickness thresholds defined in this table are also used during geometry extraction to determine whether holes are castable or require machining, ensuring alignment between geometry determination and design guidance.

This release also adds the adviceRules lookup table to the Casting - Investment process model. This allows Digital Factory administrators to enable or disable individual advice rules to align design feedback with their manufacturing standards.

Geometry extraction

Geometry extraction for Casting - Investment now uses the minimum hole diameter and minimum wall thickness threshold values from the manufacturabilitySeverity table. (The lookup tables tblDTCMinHoleDiameter and tblDTCWallThickness have been deprecated.) If a Digital Factory administrator modifies threshold values in manufacturabilitySeverity after geometry has been extracted, the geometry data and the design guidance thresholds may become out of sync. A warning is displayed in these cases to prompt geometry re-extraction. Re-extracting geometry updates the geometry to reflect the new thresholds.

Casting Design Guidance: Additional Enhancements

As part of implementing severity-based design guidance in the casting process groups, the following improvements were made.

Tolerance Advice Rules for Planar Faces

Runout and Total Runout tolerance advice rules, previously missing for planar faces in Die Casting, are now included.

Bench Operation Machine Cost and Visibility

The Bench Operation machine used for Ceramic Core Resting and Ceramic Core Finishing previously had no machine cost, and its costs were not visible in the Part Details tab. aP Pro 2026 R1 SP2 adds a representative machine cost for the Bench Operation and updates the Investment Casting component template so that Direct and Indirect Overhead costs for these operations now display in the Part Details tab.

Corrected Hole and Throat Diameter Values in Back-Counterbored Hole Message

The back-counterbored hole design guidance message previously referenced the hole diameter and throat diameter values in the wrong order. The message now displays the correct values.

Prioritized Design Guidance for Roll Forming

aP Pro 2026 R1 SP2 and Sheet Metal - Roll Forming process model version CMV 80 introduce prioritized design guidance for the Sheet Metal -- Roll Forming process group. With this release, design issues are classified as Critical, Major, or Minor, enabling you to quickly identify the most important manufacturability concerns for roll-formed parts. Severity thresholds can be customized within the Digital Factory to reflect your organization's manufacturing standards.

The following categories of Sheet Metal - Roll Forming rules now provide prioritized design guidance:

  • Bend Geometry: the following rules are now classified as Major severity, except where noted:

    • Insufficient Bend Radius (classified as Critical or Major, depending on the risk of cracking the bend)
    • Insufficient Bend Flap Length
    • Excessive Bend Flap Length
    • Inaccessible Bend
    • Intersection with Main Surface Bends
    • Excessive Section Height (classified as Minor)

  • Bend Spacing: the following rules are now classified as Major severity:

    • Insufficient Distance Between Bends
    • Excessive Distance Between Bends

  • Hole and Cutout Proximity: the following rules are now classified as Major severity:

    • Insufficient Hole to Bend Distance
    • Insufficient Hole to Hole Distance
    • Insufficient Hole to Edge Distance
    • Insufficient Hole to Cutout Distance
    • Insufficient Bend to Cutout Distance

  • Tolerances: GD&T tolerance issues, for example diametric tolerances, are now classified as Critical, Major, or Minor, depending on manufacturability impact. Tolerance issues resolvable using an alternate manufacturing process or an additional operation are classified as Cost Driver issues.

  • Cost Driving Only Rules: the following issues are classified as Cost Driver guidance and do not require a severity level:

    • Non Symmetrical Cross Section (Open and Closed)
    • Excessive Stock Thickness
    • Inline Punching Tolerance

In this release, the adviceRules lookup table was added to the Sheet Metal -- Roll Forming process model. This allows Digital Factory administrators to enable or disable individual advice rules to align design feedback with their manufacturing standards.

The manufacturabilitySeverity lookup table was also added to the Sheet Metal -- Roll Forming process model. This table stores severity thresholds for the classified rules above and enables Digital Factory administrators to customize values to reflect their organization's manufacturing standards.

Machining Scrap Percentage Now Populated

Machining Scrap % now populates correctly in the design guidance UI for Sheet Metal - Roll Forming parts that include machining operations.

Prioritized Design Guidance for Additive Manufacturing

aP Pro 2026 R1 SP2 introduces prioritized design guidance for the Additive Manufacturing process group in the process model version CMV 180. With this release, tolerance issues are classified as Critical, Major, or Minor, enabling you to quickly identify the most important manufacturability concerns for additively manufactured parts. Severity thresholds can be customized within the Digital Factory to reflect your organization's manufacturing standards.

The following category of Additive Manufacturing rules now provides prioritized design guidance:

Tolerances: hole and surface GD&T tolerance issues, for example diametric tolerances, that the primary additive process cannot achieve are now classified as Critical, Major, or Minor, depending on manufacturability impact. Tolerance issues resolvable using an additional finishing or machining operation are classified as Cost Driver issues.

In this release, the adviceRules lookup table was added to the Additive Manufacturing process model. This allows Digital Factory administrators to enable or disable individual advice rules to align design feedback with their manufacturing standards.

The manufacturabilitySeverity lookup table was added to the Additive Manufacturing process model. This table stores severity thresholds for the Tolerances rule described above and enables Digital Factory administrators to customize values to reflect their organization's manufacturing standards.

Prioritized Design Guidance for Assembly Molding

aP Pro 2026 R1 SP2 and Assembly Molding process model version CMV 140 introduce a Design Guidance tab and prioritized design guidance for the Assembly Molding process group, consistent with the design guidance experience in the Plastic Molding process group. With this release, design issues are classified as Critical, Major, or Minor, enabling you to quickly identify the most important manufacturability concerns for assembly molded parts. Severity thresholds can be customized within the Digital Factory to reflect your organization's manufacturing standards.

The following categories of Assembly Molding rules now provide prioritized design guidance:

Wall Thickness: the following rules are now classified as Major severity:

  • Thin Section
  • Thick Section

Edge Geometry: the following rules are now classified as Major severity:

  • Sharp Internal Edge
  • Sharp External Edge

Draft Angle: the Insufficient Draft Angle rule is now classified as Critical or Major, depending on how far below the minimum draft angle the feature is.

The manufacturabilitySeverity lookup table was added to the Assembly Molding process model. This table stores severity thresholds for the classified rules above and enables Digital Factory administrators to customize values to reflect their organization's manufacturing standards. The lookup tables tblMinEdgeRadius, tblWallThickness, and tblDraftAngle have been deprecated, as their threshold values are now stored in the manufacturabilitySeverity table.

In addition, the adviceRules lookup table was added to the Assembly Molding process model. This allows Digital Factory administrators to enable or disable individual advice rules to align design feedback with their manufacturing standards.

Subcomponents

Design guidance feedback for assembly molding scenarios is currently available at the part level only. Subcomponents molded as part of the assembly do not yet display individual design guidance results.