Delcam has undertaken a series of six free hands-on training sessions for users of its PowerSHAPE Pro design and reverse engineering software and its PowerMILL and FeatureCAM CAM systems. More than 160 users attended the sessions, which were all held in the Centrelink House conference venue at the company’s Birmingham headquarters.
"Delcam has by far the largest development team in the CAM industry so we always have many new features to show at these events,” claimed Delcam Marketing Manager, Peter Dickin. "We need to ensure that our customers are kept up to date with all the latest enhancements in their software so that they can maximise their productivity and profitability.”
The training sessions followed the recent release of the 2015 versions of all three programs. Each session focused on the latest enhancements that will help users to increase their productivity and shorten lead times.
The main enhancement in the 2015 release of PowerSHAPE Pro is the Smart Feature Selector. This option allows multiple similar features to be found and selected using either a specific value or a range of values. Once the particular group has been selected, all the features within it can be edited simultaneously.
This new functionality will speed the preparation of models for manufacturing significantly and so will be of great benefit to Delcam’s many customers in the toolmaking industry. For example, one common problem in product designs that are to be moulded or cast is that fillet sizes are set so small that they restrict the flow of material. The Smart Feature Selector can be used to identify any fillets below the required radius and then all the fillets found can be increased to the desired minimum size simultaneously. Full details, including video demonstrations, are on the Learning Zone – www.delcam.tv/ps2015
The new release of PowerMILL, Delcam’s programming system for high-speed and five-axis machining, includes improvements to the Vortex high-efficiency area-clearance strategy, expanded collision checking to also cover near misses, and more efficient raster finishing.
Vortex produces safe toolpaths with a much deeper cut by using a controlled engagement angle that maintains the optimum cutting conditions for the whole toolpath. As a result, higher feed rates and material-removal rates are possible, making the cutting time shorter by as much as 70%. Enhancements in PowerMILL 2015 will give even greater reductions in machining time with Vortex compared to conventional roughing. Full details, including video demonstrations, are on the Learning Zone – www.delcam.tv/pm2015
As well as including the latest developments in the Vortex strategy, the 2015 version of FeatureCAM incorporates a range of enhancements in three-axis milling, two-axis and five-axis drilling, turning and turn-mill, and wire EDM to make the software even more powerful and easier to use.
Two additions have been made to provide support for a wider range of turning and turn-mill machine tools. Firstly, support has been added for the use of travelling steady rests to give increased flexibility when turning very long parts. Secondly, FeatureCAM 2015 has the ability to manage multiple part-catchers on turn-mill equipment. Full details, including video demonstrations, are on the Learning Zone –www.delcam.tv/fc2015
