Cost Estimation and Methods Report

Compare the cost impact of different methods layouts by semi-automatic estimation of tooling, materials and process costs. User can update various cost factors (like material cost rate and labour cost rate). Tooling cost driven by part shape complexity Cost of direct material (cast metal) and indirect materials (mold, cores, etc.) Energy cost, driven by casting yield, and process cost.

Part Features & Tool Cost

There is a direct correlation between part shape complexity and tooling cost. A detailed study of casting tools revealed that it is possible to estimate part shape complexity (and thereby tooling cost) using parameters such as the ratio of part surface area to the area of a sphere of equal volume. Other parameters include the volume ratio of part and bounding box, thickness variation, number of cores and volume of cores. These are used to determine a composite index of part shape complexity, which is multiplied by the machining volume and the cost rate of machining a simple cube to estimate the tooling cost: approximate, but quick!