Delcam has added new strategies for five-axis and high speed machining to
its PowerMILL CAM software, along with a number of other
customer-requested enhancements. The most significant addition for
five-axis machining is support for swarf machining. With this technique,
cutting is carried out with the side of the tool rather than the tip, to
achieve smoother surfaces.
An additional projection machining option has been added, based on
projection from an underlying surface. This is in addition to the
existing techniques from projection to or from a point, or to or from a
line, and allows complex five-axis operations to be programmed quickly
and easily, while using variable lead and lean angles. This approach is
more efficient and gives longer tool life than machining with the cutter
always normal to the surface.
Five-axis collision checking has been added for the tool holder, as well
as for the cutter. This is particularly important to avoid gouging when
machining inside small cavities in toolmaking applications.