Delcam latest versions of its PowerMILL CAM system

September 5, 2011

Delcam will launch at CMTS all the latest versions of its PowerMILL CAM system for high-speed and five-axis machining; FeatureCAM for feature-based programming; PartMaker for Swiss-type lathes and mill/turn equipment; ArtCAM for engraving and routing; and the Delcam for SolidWorks® integrated CAM system for SolidWorks.

PowerMILL 2012 includes new strategies to make programming faster and machining more efficient with the best possible surface finish, the company states. One enhancement is flowline machining, which divides the tool path between a pair of drive curves in a constant number of passes, rather than having a varying number of passes with a constant stepover. The tool path has its start and end passes on the drive curves, with the intermediate passes blending between them. This approach gives smoother results because it ensures that each pass travels over the full length of the area rather than leaving the part or making major direction changes during the pass. This feature minimizes wear on the cutter and the machine tool.

FeatureCAM 2012 makes programming easier by adding keyboard shortcuts. In addition, warning and error messages can be displayed by hovering over the relevant icon in the Operations List.

Tool path editing has also been made much easier thanks to a new Undo option. PartMaker 2012 includes new simulation modules, such as kinematic machine simulation (KMS) for the simulation of multiaxis milling centers.

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