Ultrasonic Cutting Operation
Cycle Time =
Labor Independent Process Time +
(Labor Dependent Process Time / Number of Operators)
Cycle time depends on the following:
• Labor-independent process time: this is cutting time—see the formula below.
• Labor-dependent process time (see formula)
• Number of operators: by default, this is specified by the machine property Number of Operators. Users can override the default on a per-part basis with the setup option Number of Operators.
Labor Dependent Process Time = Identing Time + Unloading Time
Labor-dependent process time is the sum of the following:
• Identing time: during Ultrasonic Cutting, an ident is applied to the ply (typically an adhesive label). The time required is specified by the cost model variable plyIdentTime (8 seconds in starting point VPEs).
• Unloading time: the time to unload a ply from the cutting machine is specified by one of the following cost model variables, depending on the ply’s surface area:
o plyUnloadTimeSmall (3 seconds in starting point VPEs): used if the geometric property plySurfaceAreaFilled is less than the cost model variable plySmallLimitArea (800,000 square millimeters in starting point VPEs).
o plyUnloadTimeMedium (9 seconds in starting point VPEs): used if plySurfaceAreaFilled is less than he cost model variable plyMediumLimitArea (8,000,000 square millimeters in starting point VPEs).
o plyUnloadTimeLarge (30 seconds in starting point VPEs): plySurfaceAreaFilled is greater than or equal to plyMediumLimitArea (8,000,000 square millimeters in starting point VPEs).
Labor Independent Process Time =
(Total Cut Length / Cut Rate) / Raw Material Stack Count
This is the cutting time for the operation. This value is converted from minutes to seconds. Cutting time in minutes is determined according to this formula by using the following values:
• Total cut length (see formula)
• Cut rate: by default in starting point VPEs, this is specified by the machine property Cut Rate. If the number of plies in a stack is greater than 1 (see Raw Material Stack Count), the machine rate is decreased by the factor specified by the cost model variable cuttingDerateFactor (0.8 in starting point VPEs). Users can override the calculated cut rate with the setup option Cut Rate Override.
• Raw material stack count: This is the number of plies that are assumed to be cut at the same time. By default in starting point VPEs, plies are assumed to be cut one at a time. A cost model variable and setup option can be used to specify that multiple plies are stacked and all cut at the same time. See Raw Material Stack Count.
Total Cut Length = Ply Perimeter Length + Total Splice Cut Length
Total cut length is the sum of the following:
• Ply perimeter length: this is the ply perimeter including the perimeters of interior contours. It is specified by the geometric property Perimeter.
• Tool splice cut length (see formula)
Total Splice Cut Length = Splice Cut Length * Total Number of Splice Cuts
Total splice cut length is the product of the following:
• Splice cut length: if the value of the geometric property Orientation is 0 for the ply, the cut length is assumed to be the ply Length. Otherwise, it is calculated with the formula below.
• Total number of splice cuts: for each splice, that is, for each pair of tow packets that are spliced together, there are two splice cuts. The number of pairs of tow packets that must be spliced together is given by roundup(plyWidth/materialWIdth) – 1. This is 0 if ply width is not greater than raw material width.
Splice Cut Length =
(((Ply Length2) + (Ply Width2))0.5 / Total Number of Splice Cuts) *
sin(Ply Orientation)
If the value of the geometric property Orientation is 0 for the ply, the cut length is assumed to be the ply Length. Otherwise, it is calculated with formula above, which depends on the following:
• Ply length: specified by the geometric property Length.
• Ply width: specified by the geometric property Width.
• Total number of splice cuts: this is given by 2 * (roundup(plyWidth/materialWIdth) – 1). This is 0 if ply width is no greater than raw material width.
• Ply orientation: specified by the geometric property Orientation.
 
Note that Length runs along the ply fiber direction, and Width runs perpendicular to it. See GCD Extraction for Composites.