CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive
2 April 2009
Events News
Delcam to Show Faster Design and Machining at NPE/MoldMaking Expo
Delcam will preview new versions of its PowerSHAPE CAD software and its PowerMILL CAM system at the MoldMaking Expo to be held as part of the National Plastics Exhibition in Chicago from 22nd to 26th June. The programs, which are scheduled for release later this year, will offer faster mould design and faster machine tool programming respectively.
The faster mould design has been made possible by the incorporation within PowerSHAPE of the Parasolid kernel for solid modelling alongside Delcam’s own system for surface modelling. These two technologies provide an unbeatable combination for toolmakers, according to Delcam’s Marketing Manager, Peter Dickin.
"Surface modelling is essential for mould designers to undertake detailed operations like creating and adjusting split lines. This has always been PowerSHAPE’s key strength,” claimed Mr. Dickin. "History-based solid modelling can even be a disadvantage at this stage because it can become difficult to change a single fillet radius or draft angle without affecting other parts of the model.”
"Solid modelling really comes into its own when the designer moves from creating the core and cavity into building the rest of the mould stack,” added Mr. Dickin. "Most of these other components are made up from simpler prismatic shapes and the Parasolid kernel is the acknowledged leader for this type of design work. Our implementation of this technology within PowerSHAPE will give both faster creation of the initial design and much quicker regeneration of the complete stack following any design modifications.”
The addition of Parasolids will also enhance Delcam’s Power Features technology. Mould components that contain Power Features react automatically as they are placed within an assembly, adding all the necessary fit-features to the connecting components. As each part is added, the tolerances between the various components are also defined automatically. This automatic creation of relationships makes the development of the overall design much quicker than other 3D mould design systems and also makes errors in the design process less likely.
The forthcoming version of PowerMILL is the first release to take advantage of the availability of multi-core, multi-processor machines at more affordable prices. This equipment gives even faster processing times for the software. The improvements will be most noticeable for companies machining very detailed cores and cavities, and those manufacturing larger tools.
Perhaps even more important is that using PowerMILL on a multi-core computer will remove the waiting time for the user. With a conventional computer, the operator must wait for one calculation to be completed before they can move on to the next operation. A series of operations can be compiled, for example for overnight calculations, but this is little help if the job is especially urgent.
With a multi-processor computer, the user can set the parameters for a second calculation on the part while the first calculation is still running. The two calculations can even be on different areas of the component, for example, when applying different strategies to machine the spilt surfaces from those being used for the main core or cavity.
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