Delcam Italia to highlight five-axis machining strategies at MECSPE

PowerMILL’s range of five-axis machining strategies includes swarf machining

Delcam Italia will highlight the wide range of five-axis machining strategies in the PowerMILL CAM system at the MECSPE exhibition to be held in Stuttgart from 19th to 21st March. The software will be used for a demonstration of the five-axis machining of an automotive component, co-ordinated by Atlem & Valtec and also featuring technology from Hitachi, Huron, M & H and Siemens.

PowerMILL is already used for many five-axis machining applications including the manufacture of blades, blisks and aerostructures for the aerospace industry, finish machining of ports and other engine components for the autosport sector, and patternmaking and trimming in composites manufacture. Using five-axis machining can significantly reduce the number of set-ups needed to machine many components. It can also be used to give a more efficient cutting angle that will allow more material to be removed with each pass. In addition, five-axis operation allows shorter cutters to be used. This reduces vibration, allowing more accurate machining at higher speeds.

PowerMILL offers a broad range of continuous and positional five-axis strategies, powerful editing tools to optimise the efficiency of the process, automatic collision avoidance, and full-integrated simulation to prove out toolpaths on the computer before they are sent to the factory floor. Dedicated modules are available for the machining of engine ports and for the production of blisks and impellors.

PowerMILL offers a variety of methods for controlling the tool axis in five-axis machining. The user can set a specific lead and/or lean angle – the lead angle is measured in the cutting direction; the lean angle at right angles to the cutting direction. This can be done either to access areas unable to be reached with three-axis machining or to give better cutting conditions. Alternatively, the tool angle can be set in an orientation either to or from a point or to or from a line.

Any three-axis toolpath generated in PowerMILL can be converted to a five-axis toolpath by using automatic collision avoidance to change the tool axis when collisions might occur. The software automatically tilts the cutter away from the obstacle by the specified tolerance and then returns the cutting angle to the value set for the overall toolpath once the obstacle has been cleared. Various choices are available to control the direction in which the tool is tilted.

Other options include five-axis trimming and swarf machining. These techniques are used for the finishing of composite components and vacuum formed parts, and for machining pockets in aerospace structures. Five-axis drilling is also supported.

PowerMILL’s ability to control point distribution within five-axis toolpaths allows users to take advantage of the improved ability of modern machine tool controls to handle large amounts of data. Increasing the number of points in the toolpath can give more even machining with less vibration and more consistent loading on the tool. Both these improvements give a better surface finish and less wear of the cutter.