SolidCAM Application Tutorial:
Contents
Contents
1. Introduction ... 1
2. CAM-Part Definition... 5
3. Stock and Target Definition ... 11
4. iMachining Operation ... 15
About this course
The goal of this course is to teach you how to use SolidCAM’s Multiaxis Roughing to machine a part This tutorial covers the basic concepts of Multiaxis Roughing. Once you have developed a good foundation in basic skills, you can refer to the online help for information on the less frequently used options.
Prerequisites
Students attending this course are expected to have basic knowledge of the SolidCAM software.
Course design
This course is designed around a task-based approach to training. The guided exercises will teach you the necessary commands and options to complete a machining task. The theoretical explanations are embedded into these exercises to give an overview of the Multiaxis Roughing capabilities.
Using this book
This tutorial is intended to be used in a classroom environment under the guidance of an experienced instructor. It is also intended to be a self-study tutorial.
3 1. Introduction
Multiaxis Roughing
The Multiaxis Roughing operation creates a multiaxis tool path used to rough out pocket shaped
geometries. You can specify the inputs for floor, wall and ceiling surfaces which are used by SolidCAM to create the roughing tool path. The Multiaxis Roughing feature an excellent feature that can be used to rough large amounts of material with multiaxis movements.
In this tutorial, apart from the Multiaxis Roughing operation, other operations of HSM, SWARF and iMachining are also used to help you rough out this part accurately.
The CAM-Part definition process for the part consists of the following stages:
• CAM-Part creation. At this stage, you have to define the CAM-Part name and location.
SolidCAM defines the necessary system files and a folder to allocate the place to store SolidCAM data.
• CNC-controller definition. It is necessary to choose the CNC-controller. The controller
type influences the Coordinate System definition and the Geometry definition.
• Coordinate System definition. You have to define the Coordinate System, which is the
origin for all machining operations of the CAM-Part. You can create multiple CoordSys positions and in each machining step select which CoordSys you want to use for the operation.
• Stock and Target definition. It is necessary to define a boundary of the stock that is used
for the CAM-Part machining. SolidCAM enables you to define the model of the part in its final stage after the machining.
The following exercises describe the full process of the CAM-Part definition. It is recommended to go through the stages in order to understand how the CAM-Part features are built. For this purpose, you have to turn off the automatic CAM-Part definition.
1. Click Tools > SolidCAM > SolidCAM Settings
CAM-Part creation
Coordinate System definition CNC-Machine definition
7 2. CAM-Part Definition
2. In the left pane, select CAM-Part.
3. Ensure that the settings are as shown in the
image.
4. In the left pane, select Automatic CAM-Part definition. In the right pane, click the Milling tab. 5. Ensure that the settings are as shown in the
image.
6. Click OK.
7. Browse to open the SolidWorks part Multiaxis Roughing.SLDPRT
8. Click the Feature Manager Design Tree icon.
10. Click Tools > SolidCAM > New > Milling.
The New Milling Part window opens. 11. Click to confirm the CAM part.
Define the CAM-Part in the Milling Part Data dialog box.
12. In the CNC-Machine list, click table_table_exercise.
13. Click CoordSys button in the Define section to set the coordinate
system for this part.
9 2. CAM-Part Definition
15. Select the face as shown in the image. 16. Click
The CoordSys Data window displays.
17. Enter the parameters as shown in the image. 18. Click
19. Click to close the CoordSys Manager window. 20. Click to close the Milling Part Data dialog box.
The defined coordinate system looks like this:
Stock and Target
To define the stock you have to follow the steps mentioned in this chapter.
1. Click Stock > Define.
2. In the Defined by list, click 3D Model.
3. Select the solid as shown in the image. 4. Click
5. Click Target > Define.
6. Right click the part > Select Other.
7. Select the face as shown in the image. Click
13 3. Stock and Target Definition
You must define machine and material for the iMachining operation.
8. Right click CAM-Part > CAM-Part Definition.
9. Click Edit iMachining Database.
10. Click the New icon to define a machine.
11. Enter the machine name as DMU50. 12. Click Save.
13. Enter the parameters as shown in the image. 14. Click the Material DB tab.
16. Enter the material name as Al6061. 17. Click Save.
18. Enter the parameters as shown in the image. 19. Click Save&Exit.
20. Enter the defined machine and material names in the iMachining Data section.
1. Click the Feature Manager Design Tree icon . 2. Right click Box-Extrude9 > Show.
3. Click the SolidCAM Manager icon.
4. Right click Operations > Machine Setup > Add at start of operations tree.
5. Enter a value of 230 in the Z column. 6. Click OK.
17 4. iMachining Operation
8. Select the fixture as shown in the image. 9. Click
10. Click OK in the Machine Setup window.
The first operation you will use for roughing is 3D iMachining.
11. Right click Setup > Add Milling Operation > 3D iMachining. 12. In the Technology list, click 3D General.
13. Click Geometry.
14. Click the New icon under CoordSys. 15. Click and select Surface-Untrim1 and Fillet9. 16. Click
These surfaces are required so that only the top and side surfaces are roughed and to prevent the cutter from entering the inside pockets.
17. Click Tool > Select.
18. Click the Add Milling Tool icon to add a tool. 19. Select END MILL as the tool.
20. Enter the parameters as shown in the
image.
21. Select the Holder check box. 22. Select HSK A 63 ER 32x80. 23. Click
24. Select the Holder collision protection
check box.
25. Click Levels. 26. Click Lower level.
Ensure that SurfaceCut 2 is selected. 27. Select the point as shown in the image.
19 4. iMachining Operation
29. Click Technology Wizard. 30. Set the Machining level bar at 6. 31. Click Technology.
32. Enter the parameters as shown in the image.
33. Click the Save and Calculate icon.
34. Click the Simulate icon once the
operation is calculated.
The Simulation window displays. 35. Click SolidVerify.
36. Click the Play icon.
The simulation should look as displayed in the image.
37. Click the Exit icon.
First, you will add an HSM operation to rough out the top section of the part.
1. Go to the Feature Manager Design Tree and hide SurfaceCut2 under Solid Bodies(3) and Surface- Untrim1 under Surface Bodies(2)
2. Click the SolidCAM Manager icon.
3. Right click the operation > Add Milling Operation > 3D HSM. 4. In the Technology list, click Linear machining.
5. In the CoordSys list, click model. 6. Click Tool > Select.
7. Click the Add Milling Tool icon to add a tool. 8. Select BALL NOSE MILL as the tool.
9. Enter the parameters as shown in the image. 10. Select the Holder check box.
11. Select HSK A 63 ER 32x80. 12. Click
23 5. Roughing operations
13. Click Constraint boundaries. 14. Select the Created manually option. 15. In the list,click User-defined boundary.
16. Click the New icon under Boundary name. 17. Select the curve as shown in the image.
18. Click Yes in OK to accept? window. 19. Click
20. Click Passes.
21. Enter the parameters as shown in the image. 22. Click Link.
23. Click the Retracts tab.
24. Select the Minimal verical retract option.
25. Click the Save and Calculate icon.
25 5. Roughing operations
The next roughing operation of the part is using the SWARF machining operation.
27. Right click the operation > Add Milling Operation > SWARF Machining. 28. Click Geometry.
29. In the list, click Shortest distance.
30. Select the New icon under SWARF surfaces.
31. Select the 8 corner faces as shown in the
image.
32. Click
33. Click Tool > Select.
34. Select the END MILL tool that was used for
the iMachining operation.
35. Click Roughing and More.
37. Click Misc. parameters.
38. Enter the Custom triangulation values as shown
in the image.
39. Click the Save and Calculate icon.
40. Click the Exit icon to close the operation.
27 5. Roughing operations
You will now machine the part from inside using the Multiaxis roughing operation. In Multiaxis roughing, the tool is always normal to the floor.
41. Right click the operation > Add Milling Operation > Multiaxis Roughing. 42. ClickGeometry.
43. Click the New icon under Floor surfaces. 44. Select the faces as shown in the image.
45. Click
46. Click the New icon under Wall surfaces.
47. In the Color section, click Pick from Model.
48. Click once on the part.
The selected faces should be as shown in the image.
50. Click
51. Set the Stock to leave on value as 0.5. 52. Click Tool > Select.
53. Click the Add Milling Tool icon to add a tool. 54. Select BULL NOSE MILL as the tool.
55. Enter the parameters as shown in the image. 56. Select the Holder check box.
57. Select HSK A 63 ER 32x80. 58. Click
59. Click Levels.
29 5. Roughing operations
61. Click Tool path parameters.
62. Enter the parameters as shown in the image.
63. Click Link.
64. Enter the parameters as shown in the image. 65. Click the Approach/Retreat tab.
66. Enter the parameters as shown in the image. 67. Click the Links tab.
69. Click the Save and Calculate icon.
70. Click the Exit icon to close the operation.
The tool path should look as displayed in the image.
For the next operation, you must make a copy of the multiaxis roughing operation.
71. Right click the operation > Copy. 72. Right click the operation > Paste.
73. Right click on the pasted operation > Edit. 74. Click Link.
75. Click the Links tab.
76. Enter the parameters as shown in the
31 5. Roughing operations
77. Click Geometry.
78. In the Strategy list, click Adaptive.
79. Set the Stock to leave on values as shown in the
image.
80. Click Tool path parameters.
In the Step over section you can see the values of Maximum step over and the Desired step over. These values give you a
near constant cutting condition. You can keep these values as default.
81. Enter the Step down values as per the image.
82. Click the Save and Calculate icon.
83. Click the Exit icon to close the operation.
The tool path should look as displayed in the image.
iMachining 2D 2.5D Milling HSS (High-Speed Surface Machining)
iMachining 3D Indexed Multi-Sided Machining HSM (High-Speed Machining)
Simultaneous -5Axis Machining Turning & Advanced Mill-Turn Solid Probe
SolidCAM Application Tutorial:
Multiaxis Roughing - 1
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