programming advancements propel shop productivity

March 2016 | AdvancedManufacturing.org 77

Programming Advancements Propel Shop Productivity

Programmers at CNC Software inspect

a titanium part cut for Five-Axis Industries.

Using Mastercam’s Dynamic Motion toolpaths

helped the job shop improve metal-removal

rates by up to 70%.

Patrick WaurzyniakSenior Editor

New CAD/CAM/CAE software

helps boost manufacturing

efficiencies with improvements

in high-speed metalcutting,

design and visualization tools

As manufacturers grapple with the increasing complexity

of today’s machine tools and part geometries, CAD/

CAM software packages need to offer programmers

and machinists new ways to dramatically speed up

programming efficiencies while improving overall part finishes

and quality. With the latest CAD/CAM systems, newer roughing

algorithms enable manufacturers to cut parts faster than ever,

and much more simulation functionality packed into systems

allow visualizing cutting processes with greater detail to eliminate

potential collisions and to ensure higher cutting quality.

Speeding up the rough-cut processes of manufacturing can

slice as much as 50% or more off the time required to cut many

metal parts, and in recent years most CAM software develop-

ers have worked diligently to add new high-speed roughing

techniques to their CAM systems. Most of the first high-speed

roughing techniques were aimed at milling processes, but now

more CAM packages are adding the technique for manufactur-

ers’ turning operations.

Photo courtesy CNC Software Inc.

cad/cam software

78 AdvancedManufacturing.org | March 2016

Make it Faster, Easier, Better

With machine and part com-

plexity on the rise, manufacturing

customers have been clamoring for

CAD/CAM tools that offer many au-

tomation choices to speed part pro-

gramming. “There’s been a big shift

over the last few years, and that is

to go to physics-based machining,”

said Daniel Frayssinet, CEO of CAM

software developer DP Technology

Corp. (Camarillo, CA). “If you look

at it from a user perspective, things

are becoming much more complex,

much more difficult, and they need

a lot of productivity because there

is a lot more complication. The only

way they can get more profit is by climbing up the pyramid

of the complexity, going to parts that have much more value

to them, or add value to the parts later. And this means a

lot of complexity.”

In its latest Esprit 2016 CAM software, DP Technology

has added to its physics-based engine’s capabilities with a

new ProfitTurning machining cycle that augments its earlier

ProfitMilling technique, said Frayssinet. The new functionality,

which Frayssinet said has been under development for 10

years, is now available across DP Technology’s software line.

“Customers need ease of use, automation, and productiv-

ity—it has to be done very quickly and very easily,” he said.

ProfitTurning uses the same technology as ProfitMilling,

keeping a constant tool load and minimizing the changes in

parameters. Frayssinet said the technique takes into account

the machine tool’s kinematics and dynamics, modifying the

cutter path accordingly to optimize the tool acceleration, tool

speed, and tool jerk.

“It’s the difference between cutting and shaving,” Frays-

sinet stated. “To cut things, you need a lot of energy. Shaving

takes a lot less energy. This [shaving] is much greener, you

need less coolant, and you can do a lot of dry machining.”

Not only is the tool life longer, but since less power is need-

ed, jobs can be done on machines with less horsepower, he

added. “What happens is some people definitely need this

and ask for it. Others you have to convince them. Seeing is

believing though—as they keep using it, the tool life is better,

and they need less horsepower.”

The current trends in CAD/CAM are for more complex

parts and machines, less programming time, less time on the

machine and less setups, said Nick Spurrett, regional direc-

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cad/cam software

The Esprit 2016 CAM software includes a spiral roughing toolpath for five-axis machining,

allowing the removal of material around the entire part and eliminating one or more

semifinish cycles.

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tor, Americas, Vero Software (Tuscaloosa, AL, and Chelten-

ham, UK). Today’s manufacturers are looking for advanced

productivity improvements due to the collision-rich environ-

ment of today’s machine tools, Spurrett said.

Quick deployment of technology

solutions to connect machine tools and

to reduce production costs is essential,

he added. “You can buy all the CAM

solutions you want, but if you’re not mak-

ing parts faster, you’ve failed,” Spurrett

said. In Vero’s latest updated software,

the company is migrating its successful

Edgecam Waveform Roughing Technol-

ogy across its entire product line, Spurrett

said, and the high-speed material re-

moval technique will be incorporated into

all new Vero software updates, including

the Surfcam, WorkNC and VISI products.

“You can buy all the CAM solutions you want, but if you’re not making parts faster, you’ve failed.”

Edgecam’s Waveform technology

has played a key role in speeding cus-

tomers’ machining, he added. “Edge-

cam CAM software is playing a pivotal

role in swiftly producing high-precision

parts for the three top-performing

Toyota SA Motorsport’s 2016 Dakar

Rally entries,” Spurrett said. The speed

of Edgecam helped the motorsport

team accelerate its sign-off process for

the race, enabling shipping nine tons

of components to the race site nearly a

month before the rally, he added.

Aside from machining capabilities,

ease of use ranks high among CAD/

CAM customers’ requirements. “The

learning curve always is a key element,”

Spurrett said. “Will it make the custom-

er’s experience more joyful? We have

customers who genuinely like driving

our products.”

Users are not only demanding ease of use and better

workflow from their software, but also new technologies like

Mastercam’s Dynamic Motion toolpaths that can reduce cycle

times by as much as 75% and dramatically speed up manu-

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facturing processes, noted Ben Mund, senior market analyst,

CNC Software Inc. (Tolland, CT), developer of Mastercam.

“Looking at the programming side, we are seeing more

and more CAM companies developing heavily optimized

tool motion intended to standardize chip removal and speed

machining. It’s a technique that has roots going back de-

cades to radial chip thinning, but today’s computing power

and algorithms have created an explosion in powerful new

techniques. We’ve seen amazing success with our optimized

Dynamic Motion technology, and we continue to apply it to

more shop scenarios with every release.”

Other recent CAM software releases incorporating high-

speed roughing include the new FeatureCAM 2016 release

from Delcam (Birmingham, UK) that adds new high-effi-

ciency roughing capabilities. FeatureCAM’s feature-based

software includes new enhancements to Delcam’s Vortex

high-efficiency area-clearance strategy.

Vortex gives users fast, safe metal removal from solid

carbide tooling, particularly for designs that give deeper

cuts by using the full flute length as the cutting surface. The

technique produces toolpaths with a controlled engagement

angle and so maintains the optimum cutting conditions for

the complete roughing cycle, giving faster machining and

longer tool life, according to Delcam. The new FeatureCAM

software adds the ability to adjust and fine tune the noncut-

ting moves of 2.5D and 3D Vortex toolpaths, with options to

retract the tool and/or to increase the feed rate. These op-

tions can be set individually, or can be combined to achieve

an optimum toolpath, with a reduced cycle time.

CAD Tools Simplifying Designs

Among some recent trends in CAD are new modeling

tools that are aimed squarely at assisting the NC program-

mer, CNC Software’s Mund said. “Tools that help prep

models, tools that help correctly fill in design gaps that might

be left in a model, and tools that create additional models

that programmers might need, like fixtures, electrodes and

molds—all of these are what we might call ‘CAD for CAM,’”

Mund said. “Combined with powerful general creation tools

and tight CAD/CAM integration, these tools can be a huge

timesaver for shops.”

In particular, Mastercam’s

CAD engine has been greatly

improved, he noted. “Solid

Disassemble will separate and

organize components of an

assembly for easier machining,

and users can snap and posi-

tion solids to one another with

a couple clicks,” Mund said.

“We’re expanding our Dynamic

Motion toolpaths with refined

strategies for better control in

specific cuts. Dynamic toolpaths

are also extending into other

areas such as turning, in Master-

cam Lathe, and will continue

to expand in the future. Our

new radial chip thinning feature lets you program to a tool’s

specs, delivering efficient speeds and feeds while maintaining

your targeted chip thickness.”

New programming tools continue to bolster automation,

said Daniel Remenak, product manager, GibbsCAM (Moor-

park, CA). “This is what drove the CAM revolution to begin

with and continues to drive innovation in our sector as well

as in the machine tool sector. Doing more with less labor—

whether that means programmer labor or operator labor—is

a really big deal,” Remenak said. GibbsCAM helps to ad-

dress that first by helping automate programmers’ tasks, he

added, supporting timesaving features on modern machine

tools to help automate operator tasks.

The latest GibbsCAM 2015 is a feature-rich release,

Remenak said, based on an entirely new kinematic engine,

UKM (Universal Kinematic Machine). “One of the major

focuses of this release was improving support for machines

with advanced capabilities, and accurately programming and

cad/cam software

The Vero Software PartXplore program is a new high-speed viewer that evaluates 3D models

from any CAD application and makes any needed repairs.

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simulating every aspect of machining. There are also signifi-

cant improvements across the board including new toolpath

strategies, new geometry editing features, a new tooling

dialog with support for additional tool types, adapter blocks

and angled heads, and integration with

the Adveon tool library system.”

Today’s users want tools that en-

able them to work the smartest way

with accuracy and speed, said NC

Kishore, Delmia portfolio senior techni-

cal expert, Dassault Systèmes (Auburn

Hills, MI, and Paris). “As always, users

want more automation and intelli-

gence built into the software with the

least number of clicks to achieve their

goals. They want to have the quick-

est turnaround time for their jobs, and

hence demand a way to easily col-

laborate with their team members and

partners across the globe.”

“Doing more with less labor—whether that

means programmer labor or operator labor—is a

really big deal.”

Some key new capabilities delivered

in Delmia’s machining software include

support for custom postprocessors

where customers have developed their

own postprocessors over the years.

“Now they can use those posts to

integrate with machine simulations,”

Kishore said. “This is yet another exam-

ple that we are always working towards

delivering higher value by supporting

customer investments.” Other Delmia

enhancements include a dedicated

new operation for impeller hub ma-

chining, multiaxis mill-turn operations,

and enhancements to machining hard

metals with concentric milling are a few

among many more that deliver high

value to users.

Taking a Systems Engineering Approach

The most successful manufacturers today are adopting

more of a systems engineering approach to using their CAD/

CAM/CAE software tools at a high rate of effectiveness.

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“Systems engineering is a comprehensive approach

to product development that intelligently links re-

quirements, early concepts, and performance char-

acteristics,” noted Jim Rusk, senior vice president

and chief technical officer, Siemens PLM Software

(Plano, TX). “This important technology continues to

evolve and for many manufacturers it has become a

critical tool in helping develop products that are fast

to market with on-target product characteristics.”

Along with systems engineering, manufacturers

are also supporting new manufacturing technolo-

gies, including additive manufacturing, Rusk said, as

well as upstream functionality that facilitates design

and optimization methods that result in designs that are

tailored and unique to additive manufacturing capabilities.

“The Digital Twin is a virtual model of the product, including

information on the manufacturing process and production

system that is connected to the real world to evaluate per-

formance [not only product performance but also production

performance], etc.,” Rusk said. “This creates the opportunity

to close the loop between the virtual and real worlds, which

results in more accurate and optimized designs.”

Other trends include multidiscipline and multiphysics

simulation, Rusk said, with simulation solutions that combine

different disciplines together—mechanical, automation, and

electrical—to enable better product performance simulation

and validation prior to hardware build. “This may be found in

automation systems for factories, or in applications like mul-

tibody dynamics combined with flexibility for critical compo-

nents and 1D control system simulation—like in vehicle ride

controls,” Rusk said. “Furthermore, within simulation areas,

the ability to combine critical simulation types together for

multiphysics is key—including thermal/fluid, thermal/struc-

tural, and fluid/structural behaviors.”

In Siemens’ latest NX software for 2016, Rusk noted the

company has added functionality including enhanced virtual

commissioning of machines and factory lines; the NX Line De-

signer, for modeling the production system layout for assembly

lines; virtually configuring plant equipment using point clouds;

robotic machining applications to reduce the cost of machining;

and scalable solutions for generation of high-quality rendering

to support decision-making based upon the Digital Twin.

NC Simulation

Simulation advances at the NC cutting level also play a

huge part in improving manufacturing processes, with highly

realistic NC simulations that foolproof the process before

cutting any metal. “Our customers continue to insist on more

and more accurate simulation, especially in the domain of

CNC control emulation [i.e., mimicking the behavior of the

CNC’s logic]. As CNC control sophistication increases, so

does the need to emulate the behavior in the factory or shop

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cad/cam software

Multiphysics simulation in Siemens PLM Software’s NX CAE tools shows

critical features to verify thermal-mechanical or fluid-structural behaviors

in complex products like this aircraft engine model.

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floor,” said Bill Hasenjaeger, product marketing manager,

CGTech (Irvine, CA), developer of the Vericut NC simulation,

verification and optimization software.

The latest Vericut version 7.4 includes nearly 500 cus-

tomer-driven enhancements and software change requests,

in addition to new features designed to make NC program-

mers’ jobs easier, said Hasenjaeger. “These updates utilize

the latest technologies to enable faster processing speeds,

longer tool life and increased part quality,” he said. “Added

features to the user interface simplify the most common user

actions and significant developer hours have been invested

to increase simulation speed by more thoroughly taking ad-

vantage of multiple processors and background processing.”

Vericut’s Tool Manager desktop and user interface has

been redesigned to enable easier user interaction, with a new

toolbar providing easy access to all features needed to cre-

ate and maintain tool libraries, create and modify tool assem-

blies, import tool assemblies, and create or import OptiPath

records. All Tool Definition windows have been redesigned to

make tool definition easier, and Vericut 7.4 ships with a library

of common tools, making it quick and simple to add new

tools to a simulation session.

For more information or to schedule a demonstration, visit Benchmark.Mitutoyo.com or call 1-888-MITUTOYO

Overlooking the smallest details can result in catastrophic failure. Details matter. Accuracy counts. You can’t afford to miss the details. Mitutoyo’s Benchmark Series forms the foundation of every shop’s quality assurance capabilities.

Whether you’re looking to improve precision, increase shop productivity or capture the details, Mitutoyo Quality tools will move your benchmark to the next level.

NEVER MISSLITTLE DETAILS

?CGTech949-753-1050 / cgtech.com

CNC Software Inc.860-875-5006 / mastercam.com

Dassault Systèmes/Delmia248-267-9696 / 3ds.com

Delcam877-335-2261 / delcam.com

DP Technology Corp.805-388-6000 / dptechnology.com

Gibbs and Associates805-523-0004 / gibbscam.com

Siemens PLM Software800-498-5351 / siemens.com/plm

Vero Software+44 (0) 1189 226699 / verosoftware.com

programming advancements propel shop productivity

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