Delcam Features Vortex Roughing at EMEC Open House

A demonstration of Delcam’s Vortex high-efficiency area-clearance strategy was one of the highlights of the November two-day grand opening of EMEC Machine Tools’ new Montreal division.

The demonstration was performed on an Okuma Genos VMC using the Vortex strategy in Delcam’s Power- Mill CAM system for high-speed and 5-axis machining. Other live demonstrations were performed on an Okuma horizontal lathe and a Tsugami 5AX lathe.

According to Delcam, the new machining strategy gives the fastest safe metal removal from solidcarbide tooling, in particular designs that produce deeper cuts by using the full flute length as the cutting surface. The software can be used for 2- and 3-axis roughing, 3-plus-2-axis area clearance, and for rest machining. It gives benefits when machining all types of materials, including titanium, tool steel, and alloys such as INCONEL®.

Vortex produces toolpaths with a controlled engagement angle, maintaining the optimum cutting conditions for the toolpath that would normally be possible only for the straight-line moves. As a result, higher feed rates are possible, cutting time is shorter, and cutting is undertaken at a more consistent volume- removal rate and at a constant feed rate.

The constant feed rate achieved with the software is a fundamental difference from other high-speed roughing techniques. According to Delcam, trials have shown that this approach is more reliable as it often can be difficult to predict exactly how machine tools will react to changing feed rates.

It also uses a minimum radius parameter, calculated to make sure that the machine tool can maintain the cutting feed rate in corners and, more generally, for any nonstraight part of the toolpath. This makes the cutting process more predictable since the machine should run at the programmed feed rate throughout and not slow down if there are area clearance problems.