CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive

2 February 2012

Events News

Delcam to Show Latest CAM at Industrie

Delcam will demonstrate the latest releases of its FeatureCAM feature-based CAM system and its Delcam for SolidWorks integrated CAM system for SolidWorks on stand 5N61at the Industrie exhibition to be held in Paris from 26th to 30th March. Both programs include important new strategies, alongside a range of more general enhancements to allow faster toolpath generation.

The main addition to FeatureCAM 2012 R2 is a series of new strategies for 2.5D roughing. These include a continuous spiral option to minimise wear on the cutter and machine tool, high-speed roughing options, including trochoidal machining and Delcam’s patented Race Line Machining, and “tear-drop” moves to clear corners more smoothly. In addition, more styles of leads and links can now be used to give greater overall efficiency for the toolpaths.

Roughing has also been improved for users of turning equipment that can operate with live tooling. A new option allows cutting with a live milling tool, while the workpiece is rotating in the turning spindle. This approach avoids the issues associated with interrupted cutting and ensures regular chip breakage, so removing any chance of wrap-around by the swarf.

All FeatureCAM users will benefit from improvements to the simulation module. In particular, they will see much faster results through the use of multiple cores for these calculations. In addition, the ability has been included to save a position during the simulation, for example, while toolpaths are being edited, and then to run the simulation from that position rather than from the start.

Other general enhancements include direct cutting and pasting of models between FeatureCAM and Delcam’s PowerSHAPE design and data repair software, and the ability to create machining configurations on a network as well as on an individual computer, so saving time and encouraging consistent results from different users.

The 2012 R2 version of Delcam for SolidWorks includes new modules for b-axis turn-mill and four-axis wire EDM, plus numerous improvements to the existing functions for rough milling and finishing. As a Gold Partner CAM product, it is, of course, fully compatible with the latest release of SolidWorks.

B-axis turn-mill allows milling features to be created easily based on the b angle of the feature itself. Both the b-axis angle and the rotational orientation of turning tools can also be controlled. The technique can be used on multi-tasking machine tools, like the Mazak Integrex and the Mori Seiki NT range.

The wire EDM module introduced in the initial 2012 release has been extended to cover four-axis operation. Users can choose from die, punch, profile and rapid operations, along with a variety of other options, to generate code for all types of wire EDM equipment. As with all other Delcam for SolidWorks modules, the wire features are associative to the model so the code will update automatically following any change to the design.

Delcam for SolidWorks 2012 R2 also incorporates enhancements from the latest release of FeatureCAM on which it is based, including a series of new strategies for 2.5D roughing, improved Z-level finishing, Z-axis indexing, and faster simulation.

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