Delcam Italia will demonstrate Delcam’s completely integrated solution for the design, machining and inspection of moulds, dies and other tooling at the EuroStampi exhibition to be held in Parma from 27th to 29th March as part of the MECSPE group of exhibitions. The complete solution combines Delcam’s PowerSHAPE CAD software, PowerMILL CAM system and PowerINSPECT inspection software and enables toolmakers to work more efficiently and to higher levels of accuracy.
By offering a combination of solid, surface and direct modelling, PowerSHAPE provides the most comprehensive range of design techniques available in a single CAD program. Having all the different technologies in the same package reduces the need to transfer data between multiple programs and so streamlines the whole product development process. At the same time, the combination of quick and easy direct modelling options, together with powerful and flexible surface modelling, makes PowerSHAPE the perfect choice for design for manufacture.
The direct modelling functionality in PowerSHAPE Pro tooling allows tooling designers to tackle all the common problems that they find in product designs, such as insufficient draft or inappropriate fillet sizes. Together with the extensive data translation and data repair options available in PowerSHAPE, the direct modelling tools give a unique range of capabilities to toolmaking companies, whether they are producing moulds, press tools or die-casting equipment.
Delcam’s PowerMILL CAM system for high-speed and five-axis machining includes a wide range of strategies, together with powerful editing tools, to allow the optimum toolpaths to be produced in the shortest calculation times. As well as enabling faster machining times, the strategies in PowerMILL give exceptional surface quality, meaning that hand finishing can be eliminated in many cases.
Among the many unique options is the new Vortex high-efficiency area clearance strategy. Vortex, for which Delcam has a patent pending, has been developed by the company specifically to gain the maximum safe metal-removal rate from solid carbide tooling, in particular those designs that can give deeper cuts by using the full flute length as the cutting surface. It can be used for two- and three-axis roughing, three-plus-two-axis area clearance and for rest machining based on stock models or reference toolpaths.
PowerINSPECT combines the ability to work with all types of inspection device with a comprehensive range of inspection routines for taking simple measurements, for inspection of geometric features and for analysing complex 3D surfaces. The resulting reports present detailed information in an easy-to-read format, that can be understood by all engineers not just inspection specialists.
Delcam also offers its FeatureCAM software for companies that undertake production machining, in particular on mill-turn equipment. FeatureCAM was the world’s first feature-based programming software when it was launched in 1995. Constant development since then has ensured that the system has retained its leadership in programming speed and ease of use, while an increased range of strategies has been added to provide more efficient toolpaths giving greater productivity on a wider range of machines.
