Delcam to Launch New Strategies for Five-Axis and High-Speed Machining at IMTS

July 31, 2002 - On stand D-3037 at IMTS, Delcam will preview new strategies for five-axis and high-speed machining under development for its PowerMILL CAM software. These will be released within PowerMILL 4.5 later this year, together with many other customer-driven enhancements.

Five-axis machining The most significant addition for five-axis machining is support for swarf machining. With this technique, cutting is carried out with the side of the tool rather than the tip, so giving smoother surfaces. It is used for a variety of trimming operations, including finishing of composite and sheet metal components, and for the machining of complex pockets in the aerospace industry. For the latter application, PowerMILL includes special gouge-prevention routines to prevent any collisions between the cutter and the bottom of the pocket.

An additional projection machining option has been added based on projection from an underlying surface. This is in addition to the existing techniques for projection to or from a point, or to or from a line. It allows complex five-axis operations to be programmed both quickly and easily, while using variable lead and lean angles. This approach is much more efficient and gives longer tool life than machining with the cutter always normal to the surface.

5-axis collision checking has been added for the tool holder, as well as for the cutter. This is particularly important to avoid gouging when machining inside small cavities in toolmaking applications.

High-efficiency machining The new release of PowerMILL further extends the software's capabilities for high-efficiency machining. A new combination roughing strategy has been introduced that combines offset roughing with trochoidal machining. This automatically avoids high-load cuts that could occur with conventional offset strategies, by switching to a trochoidal motion when the cutter encounters large amounts of material. Using a shaving action to remove material in these areas reduces the load on the tool to a more consistent level, allowing higher machining speeds to be maintained.

A number of enhancements have been made to the corner finishing routines. These now give an improved surface finish, so lowering costs and increasing accuracy by reducing the need for hand finishing.

Machining data management A number of enhancements have been made to the methods for managing data within PowerMILL. These management tools are especially important for companies that operate multiple shifts as staff on the new shift can immediately find out exactly what work has been completed on the project and what remains to be done. They are also helpful in tracking information when duplicate or related components or tooling have to be produced long after the original project was completed. They provide a clearly-structured record of the processes followed in the earlier project and so allow the knowledge and experience gained then to be applied to the new task.

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www.delcam.co.uk 

 

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