The Hydroform Fluid Cell node provides the following options:

This option helps determine whether aPriori assumes the use of a blank holder during forming, which affects hard tooling costs—see Tooling for Hydroforming.

By default, aPriori includes the cost of a blank holder if the skirt length exceeds a threshold:

The skirt length is the maximum downward depth or flap length of any form or straight bend. The threshold is specified by the cost model variable skirtLengthLimit (38.1mm in starting point VPEs).

In other words, by default, aPriori includes the cost of a blank holder if either of the following holds:

You can override the default with this option.

By default in starting point VPEs, the hydroform process creates only one part at a time. VPE Administrators can customize the default for fluid cells parts with the cost model variable defaultNumPartPerFluidCellTray. End users can override the default for individual fluid cell parts with this setup option. The number of parts per tray affects cycle time—see Cycle Time for the Hydroform Process.

If you override the default, enter a value that doesn’t exceed the maximum number of parts that fit on the tray. (To calculate the maximum, the cost model assumes that the parts are arranged in a rectangular grid, with all parts oriented the same way. For machines with a rectangular tray, the cost model further assumes that each blank’s SER length or SER width is aligned with the tray length—whichever is more efficient.)

By default, the cost model assumes the use of a throw pad covering the blank, which affects loading and unloading time—see Cycle Time for the Hydroform Process. Users can override the default with this setup option, and specify that no throw pad is used.