CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive
13 March 2007
Events News
Delcam to Preview New Five-Axis Machining Software at EASTEC
Delcam will preview new five-axis machining options in both its FeatureCAM and PowerMILL CAM systems at the EASTEC exhibition to be held in West Springfield, Massachusetts from 22nd to 24th May. The new version of FeatureCAM will include support for continuous five-axis machining for the first time, while the PowerMILL preview will highlight new automated functionality for machining blades, blisks and impellors.
FeatureCAM 2008 will offer a variety of methods for controlling the tool axis in five-axis machining. The user will be able to set a specific lead and/or lean angle - the lead angle is measured in the cutting direction; the lean angle at right angles to the cutting direction. This can be done either to access areas unable to be reached with three-axis machining or to give better cutting conditions. Alternatively, the tool angle can be set in an orientation either to or from a point or to or from a line.
Any three-axis toolpath generated in FeatureCAM can be converted to a five-axis toolpath by using automatic collision avoidance to change the tool axis when collisions might occur. The software automatically tilts the cutter away from the obstacle by the specified tolerance and then returns the cutting angle to the value set for the overall toolpath once the obstacle has been cleared. Various choices are available to control the direction in which the tool is tilted.
Other new options include five-axis trimming and swarf machining. These techniques are used for the finishing of composite components and vacuum formed parts, and for machining pockets in aerospace structures.
Five-axis drilling is also supported. This new functionality, coupled with the advanced feature-recognition in FeatureCAM, makes it possible to create drilling programs in seconds for multiple hole types and sizes, oriented in a variety of directions.
The new automated functionality in PowerMILL CAM will allow much faster programming of the machining of blisks and impellors. Typically, the new option will allow even complex blisks and impellors to be programmed in around 30 minutes, compared with the many hours of work that would have been needed previously.
The three type of toolpath needed to machine a blade - a roughing toolpath to remove the bulk material, plus separate finishing toolpaths for the blade and the hub - will be produced in a single calculation. A warning is given automatically if the cutter chosen for roughing will not remove sufficient material so that finishing can be undertaken safely.
To further speed the calculation times, if the blades are evenly spaced, PowerMILL will automatically count the number of blades and produce a complete set of toolpaths in a single operation. When the blades have different spacings, toolpaths must first be produced for a single blade and then copied around the hub at the appropriate angles.
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