The so-called Hybrid Manufacturing, is nothing more and nothing less than the blend of subtractive and additive manufacturing processes. This is news today because an increasing number of high-profile machine tool manufacturers that are bringing to market hybrid CNC multi-tasking machines combining traditional CNC machining with additive manufacturing on the same machine.
Over 60% of the leading CAM manufacturers across the world have integrated MachineWorks' Software Development Toolkit (SDK) to drive their CNC simulation and verification seamlessly inside their CAM applications.
Now that the demands of the market are expanding to include 3D printing simulation functionality in a CNC environment, both CAD/CAM software providers and machine tool manufacturers are turning to MachineWorks to provide this enhanced functionality.
MachineWorks Software encompasses key functionality for the simulation of both process; traditional CNC machining where the material is being removed, as well as additive manufacturing where the material is being added. Furthermore, MachineWorks software offers analysis of the finished part and a quality check of both processes.
The unique Boolean algorithms that underlie MachineWorks’ core technology have been developed since 1994 and are specifically optimised to make a robust CNC simulation. The MachineWorks engines can perform complex geometrical calculations and demanding solid model processing quickly and accurately. MachineWorks' revolutionary way of handing solid meshes has provided the 3D printing industry with automatic software solutions for processing polygons.
The degree of flexibility and customisation that MachineWorks APIs can offer to the Hybrid Manufacturing processes is unique, whether it is layer by layer addition or cutting material on the same stock. Mike Nicholson, Sales & Marketing Director of MachineWorks says, "We have always been able to deliver material addition as well as material removal but recently we have seen the demand for additive simulation rocketing".
