SolidCAM Application Tutorial:
Multiblade Machining
SolidCAM
+
SOLIDWORKS
Contents
i
Contents
1. Introduction ... 1
2. CAM-Part Definition... 5
3. Stock and Target Definition ... 11
4. Multiblade Roughing Operation ... 15
5. Blade Finishing Operation ... 21
6. Fillet Finishing Operation ... 27
2
About this course
The goal of this course is to teach you how to use SolidCAM’s Multiblade Machining to machine an impeller blade. This tutorial covers the basic concepts of Multiblade Machining. 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 Multiblade Machining 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
Multiblade Machining
The Multiblade Machining operation easily handles impellers and bladed disks, with multiple
strategies to efficiently rough and finish each part of these complex shapes. All the blade surfaces are machined in a single operation. Various cutting strategies are supplied for roughing and finishing of the impeller parts. Multi-bladed parts are used in many industries. This operation is specifically designed to generate the necessary tool paths for the different multiblade configurations.
Some of the advantages of this powerful operation are:
Powerful engine for machining impellers. Minimum inputs needed
Automatic tool axis control Root fillets are handled with ease
Different strategies for Roughing, Blade finishing, Fillet finishing, and Hub finishing
A Multiblade impeller has the following elements:
1. Hub surface 2. Main blade 3. Leading edge 4. Trailing edge 5. Fillet 6. Splitter 7. Shroud
6
The CAM-Part definition process for the impeller 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.
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.
5. In the right pane, click the Milling tab. 6. Ensure that the settings are as shown in the
image.
7. Click OK.
8. Browse to open the SolidWorks part Impeller Part.SLDPRT. 9. Click Tools > SolidCAM > New >
Milling.
8
10. Click .
Define the CAM-Part in the Milling Part Data dialog box: 11. In the CNC-Machine list, click table_table_exercise.
12. Click CoordSys button in the Define section the coordinate
9 2. CAM-Part Definition
13. In the Place CoordSys origin to list, click Top center of model box.
14. Select the face as shown in the image. 15. Click
The CoordSys Data window displays.
16. Enter the parameters as shown in the image. 17. Click
10
The defined Coordinate looks like this:
18. Click to confirm the CoordSys Manager.
19. Click to come out of the Milling Part Data window.
Stock and Target
12
To define the stock you have to follow the steps mentioned in this chapter.
1. Click the Feature Manager Design Tree icon.
2. Click Design Model > Solid Bodies > Importiert3 > Show.
The selected stock should look as shown in the image.
3. Click the Solid icon.
4. Right click Stock > Define.
5. In the Defined by list, click 3D Model.
6. Select the stock as shown in the image. 7. Click
13 3. Stock and Target Definition
8. Click the Feature Manager Design Tree icon.
9. Click Design Model > Solid Bodies > Importiert3 > Hide. 10. Click the Solid icon.
11. Right click Target > Define.
12. Select the target as shown in the image. 13. Click
14. Right click Operations > Machine Setup > Add at start of operations tree.
15. Enter a value of 100 in Z column. 16. Click OK.
Multiblade Roughing
16
1. Right click Operations > Add Milling Operation
> Multiblade Machining.
2. In the Technology list, click Roughing. 3. Click the Geometry page.
4. In the Strategy list, click Parallel to Hub.
5. Click the New icon under the Blades, Splitters, Fillets section. 6. Select the faces as shown in the image.
You have to pick up all the blades, shrouds, and fillets of these three highlighted parts of the impeller. You have to select total 22 faces.
17 4. Roughing Operation
7. Click
8. Keep an offset of 0.5 mm in the Stock to leave on option. 9. Click the Feature Manager Design Tree icon.
10. Click Design Model > Surface Bodies > Surface-Trim 1 > Show. 11. Click the New icon under the Hub section.
12. Select Surface -Trim 1 from the design tree. 13. Save the name as Hub. The
same hub surface will be used in the entire document.
14. Click
The Hub can be a small segment next to the blade. You do not require to select the entire Hub. SolidCAM picks up the required surface for machining.
18
16. Click Tool > Select.
17. Click icon to add a new tool. 18. Select TAPER MILL as the tool.
Taper ball nose is the most commonly used cutter for machining impellers as it is very rigid and provides very good results.
19. Enter the parameters as shown in the
image.
20. Select BT40 ER 32x60 Holder. 21. Click
22. Click Tool path parameters > Surface quality.
23. Set the Cut tolerance limit as 0.01 mm. 24. Click the Sorting tab.
25. In the Method list, click Zigzag, start from leading edge. 26. Click the Save & Calculate icon.
19 4. Roughing Operation
28. Click the Play icon in the Simulation window.
Blade Finishing
22
1. Right click the roughing operation> Add Milling Operation > Multiblade Machining. 2. In the Technology list, click Blade finishing.
3. Click the Geometry page.
4. In the Strategy list, click Morph between Hub and Shroud.
5. Click the New icon under the Blades, Splitters, Fillets section.
6. Select the faces as shown in the image.
7. Click
8. In the Hub list, click Hub.
This is the same surface that you had selected in the roughing operation.
23 5. Blade Finishing Operation
10. Select the face as shown in the image. 11. Click
12. Click Tool > Select.
13. Select the same tool that was used for the earlier roughing operation. 14. Click Tool path parameters > Technology.
24
16. Click Stock and Transformation.
17. In the Stock definition style list, click Automatically. 18. Click the Rotation tab.
19. Enter the parameters as in the image. 20. Click the Save & Calculate icon.
21. Click the Simulate icon once the tool path
is calculated.
The Simulation window displays.
22. Click the Play icon.
25 5. Blade Finishing Operation
23. You will now create finishing of the splitter. For that, you have to save and copy this
operation.
24. Click the Save, Parallel Calculate & Copy icon. 25. Click OK in the Parallel operations window. 26. Click Geometry.
27. Click the New icon under Blades, Splitters, Fillets
section.
28. Select the faces as shown in the image. 29. Click
30. Click the Save & Calculate icon.
31. Click the Simulate icon once the tool path is calculated.
26
32. Click the Play icon.
The calculated tool path should look as displayed in the image:
You have completed the machining of the blade and splitter. In the next chapter you will look at machining of the fillet.
Fillet Finishing
28
1. Right click the blade finishing operation> Add Milling Operation > Multiblade Machining. 2. In the Technology list, click Fillet finishing.
3. Click the Geometry page.
4. Click the New icon under the Blades, Splitters, Fillets section. 5. Select the faces as shown in the image.
6. Click
7. In the Hub list, click Hub. 8. Click Tool > Select.
29 6. Fillet Finishing Operation
10. Click Tool path parameters > Technology. 11. Enter the parameters as shown in the image.
12. Click Stock and Transformation. 13. Click the Rotation tab.
14. Enter the parameters as shown in the image. 15. Click the Save & Calculate icon.
16. Click the Simulate icon once the tool
path is calculated.
The Simulation window displays.
17. Click the Play icon.
The calculated tool path should look as displayed in the image:
30
Now you will complete the machining of the splitter.
18. Click the Save, Parallel Calculate & Copy icon. 19. Click Geometry.
20. Click the New icon under Blades, Splitters, Fillets section. 21. Select the faces as shown in the image.
22. Click
23. Click the Save & Calculate icon.
24. Click the Simulate icon once the tool path is calculated.
The Simulation window displays.
31 6. Fillet Finishing Operation
Hub Finishing
34
1. Right click the fillet finishing operation> Add Milling Operation > Multiblade Machining. 2. In the Technology list, click Hub finishing.
3. Click the Geometry page.
4. Click the New icon under the Blades, Splitters, Fillets section. 5. Select the faces as shown in the image.
6. Click
7. In the Hub list, click Hub. 8. Click Tool > Select.
9. Select the same tool that was used for the earlier blade finishing operation. 10. Click Tool path parameters > Technology.
11. Enter the value of 10 in the By maximum number option. 12. Enter the value of 1 in the By maximum distance option.
35 7. Hub Finishing Operation
13. Click the Sorting tab.
14. In the Method list, click Zigzag, start from trailing edge. 15. Click Stock and Rotation.
16. In the Rotation tab, select the parameters as in
the image.
17. Click the Save & Calculate icon.
18. Click the Simulate icon once the tool
path is calculated.
The Simulation window displays.
19. Click the Play icon.
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