*PBDL
r1
r1: r*8: number of parts on build plate.
This option automatically calculates, based on the layer volume, the amount of time that it takes to deposit layers in powder-bed processing. The time is added into part scale analyses to allow for the calculation of actual cooling periods. The time is calculated using the following equation:
where t is the added processing time, V is the volume of the added material calculated from the part geometry, v the laser speed, h is the hatch spacing, and d is a single powder layer thickness. Adjusting r1 accounts for the case where a user is simulating fewer parts than what will appear on the actual build plate. For example, if 4 similar parts will be on the actual build plate and the user wishes to simulate the build using an STL file that contains only 2 of the parts, r1 should be set to 2. This will double the analysis deposition times.
Multi-laser system considerations
For multi-laser systems, adjust *PBDL with the number of lasers in use. For example for a large part being built in a 2-laser system, set *PBDL = 0.5, to account for the decreased time. Or when building 12 parts on a 4-laser system, *PBDL = 3.