Delcam’s latest developments for toolmakers at Intermold in Thailand

Delcam will demonstrate the latest developments for toolmakers from its development team, the largest in the CAM industry, at the Intermold exhibition to be held in Bangkok, Thailand, from 24th to 27th June.  Programs on show will include PowerMILL for high-speed and five-axis machining; FeatureCAM for quick and easy feature-based CAM programming; PowerSHAPE Pro for modelling for manufacture and reverse engineering; and Delcam Electrode for the design, machining, inspection and use of electrodes.

The latest release of PowerMILL includes improvements to the Vortex high-efficiency area-clearance strategy, developments in toolpath simulation and verification, improved collision checking to also cover near misses, and more efficient raster finishing, area clearance and drilling, plus more options for customisation by users.  

Complete verification, covering cutting moves, leads and links, and tool changes, can now be undertaken of a project for machine-tool issues such as collisions, saving considerable time compared to undertaking verification of each individual toolpath in turn.  Comprehensive verification is performed, including ensuring that the machine tool is capable of running the proposed strategy, as well as checking for both machine-tool collisions and tooling collisions.

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, including lathes, mills and mill-turn machines. 

The 2015 R3 release incorporates a range of enhancements to give high-quality results on all types of machine tool, including complex mill-turn equipment and five-axis machining centres, while retaining the ease of use rapid programming times for which FeatureCAM is renowned.

The most significant new option is the ability to duplicate the physical constraints of the machine tool in simulations in FeatureCAM.  Machine-tool limits can be added to the models to be used in the simulation for three-, four- and five-axis milling machines, for turning equipment, and for mill-turn machines, including those with multiple turrets and/or multiple spindles.  It is then possible to check that the chosen machine tool is capable of completing the proposed program for all types of equipment, from the simplest lathe to the most complex multi-tasking machine.

By offering a combination of solid, surface and direct modelling, together with reverse engineering, PowerSHAPE Pro 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 any product-development process that requires both reverse-engineering and CAD functionality. 

PowerSHAPE Pro can connect directly to most scanning hardware to capture and display scan data in real time.  The 2015 R2 version includes a new split-screen alignment option that makes it quicker and easier to combine multiple scans, taken, for example, from the opposite sides of a part.  The new method also allows more accurate snapping of alignment points, giving greater accuracy in the resulting single CAD model.

Delcam Electrode combines PowerSHAPE, PowerMILL and the PowerINSPECT inspection software to give a completely integrated solution for the design, machining and inspection of electrodes.  At the heart of the Delcam solution is a novel file format – the .Trode file.  This contains all the information for each electrode project, including not only the electrode design but also the machining and inspection information, plus the set-up sheets for its manufacture and use.  Having all the required information in a single file simplifies data management as well as increasing overall efficiency.

Delcam Electrode can provide scripts for equipment from AgieCharmilles (Agievision and CT Millennium controls), Exeron, JDMA EPX, Makino EDM, Mitsubishi Electric, ONA EDM, OPS-Ingersoll, Sodick and Zimmer & Kreim.  Scripts are the EDM equivalent of CAM programs for machine tools.

28 May 2015