FEATURE ON CNC & CAM

Edgecam 2018 reduces regeneration time

Major enhancements to the 2018 R1 release of Edgecam from Vero Software include time saving updates to roughing cycles for milling, turning and mill-turn machining, and the prevention of unnecessary CAM regeneration. It is the latter update which is seen as being the most important for manufacturers. When a user makes an edit to an existing command, Edgecam 2018 R1 will not automatically regenerate the remaining instructions, so long as it does not affect the corresponding cycles with regard to factors such as coolant or speed.

Among the notable new items of functionality in Edgecam’s roughing cycle is ‘detect undercut stock’, which enhances the stock detection command by analysing previously undetected areas of stock. This option helps to avoid ‘fresh-air’ cutting, reducing machining time in some cases by up to half, says the company.
Furthermore, Edgecam’s Waveform Roughing Strategy has been updated to give machinists the ability to determine the radius size when using the helical approach option, simply by entering maximum and minimum values that aid the tool’s entry into the component.
Automatic collision detection is among other additions to the rough-turning cycle. In previous versions of the software it was necessary to manually apply profile extensions to avoid collisions. This new function can also be used to produce safer toolpaths in the software’s ‘Strategy Manager’.
The profiling cycle used in both milling and turning now has two new items of functionality. A ‘spring cuts’ field has been added to the multi-passes tab, which means tool deflection can be removed where necessary, by adding extra neutral passes, known as spring passes. This feature will be used typically when machining hard materials, as repeating the profile pass can result in improved accuracy and surface finish.
For further information www.edgecam.com

Audi Toolmaking steps on the gas with WorkNC

Vero Software has developed a new WorkNC high-feed rate strategy together with the machining specialists at Audi Toolmaking. The outcome: Audi has reduced processing times in various pre-finishing pressing tools by up to 30% while tool service life has tripled.

Responsibility for optimising the toolmaking in terms of CAD and CAM technology at the Ingolstadt plant of Audi AG is Markus Brunner. Brunner is primarily occupied with increasing processing quality and throughput times through the use of modern, CAM-programmed machining technologies, thus reducing processing costs. His partner in programming software is Vero Software, with its WorkNC CAM system, which Audi Toolmaking has been using for many years now.
Vero is constantly refining WorkNC software in order to make milling work even more efficiently. For instance, the current release includes a new high-feed strategy which was proposed by the toolmakers at Audi and created in a close and partner-like co-operative effort.
The new high-feed strategy factors-in deviations in milling tool geometries with irregular cutters. WorkNC thus prevents undefined allowances from appearing on the workpiece. Brunner is enthusiastic about the result: “This new strategy enables us to use milling tools of any contour, even ones with cutters which deviate from a regular geometry, such as a sphere or torus. As a result, we can even use milling tools which were specifically designed for a defined application case. Moreover, by using WorkNC’s high-feed strategy and the tools to match, we have reduced processing time in pre-finishing work by up to 30%.”
For further information www.worknc.com

HMS technology underpins connected machines

Paper-slitting machines from American machine builder JSI are well connected indeed. By using technology from HMS Industrial Networks, and system design by Millennium Controls, JSI can remotely access and control machines via the internet and enable wired and wireless communication between different machine parts.

To access the machine remotely, JSI and Millennium Controls installed an eWON Cosy from HMS – a remote router which allows users to log in securely via the internet to perform machine monitoring or even programming and maintenance. This means that operators can change blades from a safe distance inside a plant or indeed from anywhere in the world.
The eWON Cosy is connected to the machine’s PLC (a Rockwell ControlLogix L7); in turn, the router communicates with the cloud-based eWON Talk2M service where users can log in to access their control system.
With many moving parts in a machine, cabling can be difficult and cumbersome. However, by mounting an Anybus Wireless Bolt on the paper-slitting machine, JSI can offer wireless communication between the PLC cabinet and different parts of the machine.
An Allen Bradley PLC controlling the machine communicates using EtherNet/IP, the preferred network of Rockwell Automation-based systems. The PLC communicates seamlessly with most other systems and components in the machine, but JSI wanted to use a stacklight to show the current status of the machine, and this stacklight used Modbus-TCP communication. To enable the stacklight to communicate on EtherNet/IP, Millennium Controls suggested HMS’s EtherNet/IP Linking Device, which acts as a translator between the stacklight and the PLC, enabling them to communicate.
For further information www.hms-networks.com

Nadjar expands beyond grinding with Esprit

After seeing a decline in the precision grinding market in recent years, Nadjar company director Renaud Nadjar has expanded his Villeurbanne, France-based shop to take on a variety of other machining processes.

Nadjar’s first investment was in milling. Unimpressed by the programming software embedded in numeric control systems, Renaud Nadjar decided to equip the company with standalone programming software. He wanted to program more complex parts and undertake programming in the background while the machine was operating. He knew by talking to other subcontractors that there were problems with some of the solutions available on the market. Wanting to avoid those pitfalls, Nadjar decided to meet with several CAM software developers to help him make the right decision.
Nadjar discovered that the partnership between machine manufacturer Haas and Esprit CAM software made it possible to purchase both in a package deal. “Thanks to this partnership, we were able to start with certified post processors and error-free CAM,” he explains. Nadjar subsequently made an initial investment in three Haas machines with corresponding Esprit licences.
This successful initial experience led Nadjar to quickly buy an NC lathe with another Esprit licence and then another milling machine. However, the demand for 3D machining prompted the company to purchase the Esprit 3D milling module. It was a new challenge, but several months on, Nadjar is delighted with the investment: “As the software calculates everything, it prompts with coherent values, and we save an incredible amount of time. And of course, the results obtained are outstanding.”
The company has already exceeded its revenue forecast and plans to invest in five-axis milling and three- and five-axis turning next. “We are limited by our machines, but there’s no limit with Esprit CAM,” concludes Nadjar.
For further information www.espritcam.eu

SolidWorks 2018 available from Dassault

SolidWorks 2018 features an integrated, end-to-end solution for the design-to-manufacturing process that enables businesses of any size to rethink how components and products are made. Powered by Dassault Systèmes’ 3DExperience platform, SolidWorks 2018 supports a complete design through manufacturing strategy with solutions that simplify the interactions between disciplines across the product development workflow.

“Lots of designs involve welding plate and sheet-metal parts, and most people use ‘tab and slot’ techniques for self-fixturing the parts for welding,” says Edson Gebo, owner, Digital Detail & Design. “The new tab and slot feature saves a lot of time versus having to create these features manually, which helps get designs to the shop faster.”
With SolidWorks 2018, teams can collaborate concurrently to more rapidly and cost-efficiently design a product or part, validate its function and manufacturability, manage its data and related processes, streamline and automate its manufacturing, and inspect it. Any changes in design or manufacturing are fast and easy to manage, and automatically flow to all related models, programs, drawings and documentation, thanks to intellectual property embedded early on in the design process.
A key feature in the latest version of SolidWorks is SolidWorks CAM, a new application that provides rules-based machining with knowledge capture to allow for the automation of manufacturing programming. Designers and engineers can gain a greater understanding of how their designs are made, make more informed decisions, and quickly create prototype parts and manufacture in-house to control quality, cost and delivery. This application also enables teams to execute new build-to-order strategies with custom parts that are automatically designed and programmed in seconds rather than hours.
For further information www.solidworks.co.uk