Delcam to Show Data Repair and Modeling for Manufacture at Amerimold
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Delcam will highlight the strengths of its PowerSHAPE CAD software in data repair and modeling for manufacture at the Amerimold exhibition to be held in Novi, Michigan on June 13-14. PowerSHAPE is unique among CAD systems in offering Tribrid Modeling; the ability to work with solids, surfaces and triangle models in a single environment.
PowerSHAPE's strength in data repair is centered on its Solid Doctor options. These enable users to tackle all the common problems that can be found when translating low precision and incomplete data, including gaps and overlaps between surfaces, or duplicated and missing surfaces, and generate a valid, high-precision model.
The Solid Doctor uses a combination of automatic data repair tools and surface creation and editing options available within PowerSHAPE. This combination means that simple repairs can be carried out quickly and easily, while more complex problems can be overcome by deleting and replacing the existing surfaces within the model.
Once the model has been repaired, PowerSHAPE offers a range of direct modeling options to optimize the design for manufacture, in particular for the development of molds and other types of tooling.
Many product designers still produce designs with insufficient draft, making it impossible to remove the as-designed part from its tooling, so the ability to add draft to CAD models is one of the most commonly-used options within PowerSHAPE. This can be done either by using a specific value or by modifying the model interactively. The change can be applied to a single surface or to a group of surfaces, such as the sides of a pocket. In the latter case, the software is intelligent enough to maintain the radii of any fillets linking the sides.
Another common problem for the toolmaker is the use of impractical fillet sizes by designers. Small fillets require extra machining time so they extend delivery times and increase costs. In addition, they can restrict the flow of material in molds or dies, so increasing processing times and pressures. PowerSHAPE can use direct modeling to identify fillets within imported geometry, even when the modeling history has been lost. They can then be replaced with new fillets having more suitable radii.
Once the design is complete for manufacturing, it can easily be transferred to any CAM product. Delcam's CAM software comprises of FeatureCAM for feature-based programming, PowerMILL for high-speed and five-axis machining, PartMaker for the programming of turn-mill equipment and Swiss-type lathes, and Delcam for SolidWorks, the integrated CAM system for SolidWorks.
