Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Table of Contents
5X Production ....................................................................................................................... 1
5X Production- Pro ............................................................................................................... 2
Advanced ....................................................................................................................... 39
Applications ........................................................................................................................ 63
Applications .................................................................................................................... 63
CimatronE 10.0 5X Production Tutorial 1
5X Production
Create finishing toolpaths on multiple surfaces for 5-axis machining.
This procedure supports 3 - 5 axis machining with a wide variety of machining
strategies and cutters (including Lollipop and Slot Mill). You have full control over
the cutter orientation and over the behavior between cutting motions. Up to four sets
of check faces can be used, each with a different offset and a different response when
a theoretical path gouges it. Defining machine limits and other machine properties are
also available.
Multiple layers (based on 3D offsets) can be used, combined with gouge check and
control and the use of drive surfaces allows roughing in 4 / 5X machining for special
cases such as turbine blades machining.
Note: To use all the features of the 5X Production procedure, a license is required.
This license includes the use of Slot Mill and Lollipop cutters. Please contact your
Cimatron Provider. If you do not have a license, you will not be able to create, edit or
execute a 5X Aerospace procedure.
5X Production - Pro: This is the full package of the 5X Production technology with
full control over the process.
5X Production- Pro
Basic tutorial
When dealing with surface geometry and not a solid model, prior to any 5X
Production Pro work it is recommended to check the object direction and make sure
all the normals of all the faces are in the right direction to prevent strange results.
Terminology
CC (Contact Point): the point where the tool touches the material.
CL Point: The point that is represented by the coordinates of the machine
program (Control Point in Cimatron terminology).
I, J, K: Values that represent the orientation of the tool axis.
When the tool tilts it rotates around the CC point. Note that the point on the
material is fixed and the point on the tool itself changes according to the orientation
(except for sharp corner tools)
CimatronE 10.0 5X Production Tutorial 3
In the first step you will create motions as shown in the picture above. Unidir motions
are motions that proceed around the cylinder with 10mm space between each other.
Create a new 5X Production Pro procedure.
Note that under Geometry there is a Drive Surfaces parameter. Do not select any
geometry.
The look of the geometry selection screen changes according to the machining
strategy that will be chosen in the next step. Since you do not know what is required
yet, it is better not to select any geometry at this stage.
CimatronE 10.0 5X Production Tutorial 4
The relevant selection options will be available later on. This screen will be useful for
editing the geometry selection, if required.
Note that the first tab in the dialog is the Surface Paths. This is the first logical
step in the definition as described in the Introduction step.
CimatronE 10.0 5X Production Tutorial 6
Select the geometry by dragging a box, or by using the Select all button.
In the Surface Quality area, change the Maximum step over to 10mm
The One Way cutting method is similar to Unidir in other procedures and
Maximum Step Over is similar to either Side Step or Down Step depending on the
Angle in Z.
When the Z Angle causes the motions to proceed from top to bottom, the Maximum
Step Over value resembles Down Step.
Select OK.
In the Procedure Parameter Table click the Save and Calculate icon.
CimatronE 10.0 5X Production Tutorial 9
Click the Access tab. Change the strategy to Cuts along curve.
CimatronE 10.0 5X Production Tutorial 10
Click the Lead button, pick the center axis and exit.
In the Procedure Parameter Table click the Save and Calculate icon .
CimatronE 10.0 5X Production Tutorial 11
This is another way to obtain the required motions without having to calculate the
angles required as in the previous definition.
The cuts are performed normal to the leading curve. They begin at the side which is
closer to the pick point on the leading curve.
Notice the gaps between the first and last lane and the cylinder edges as indicated
by the arrows in the picture below. The size of the gap is half of the step over. The
cuts are performed normal to the leading curve. They start at the side that is closer to
the pick point on the leading curve.
Notice the difference between the start points before and after execution.
CimatronE 10.0 5X Production Tutorial 13
Note that the definition of a start point is only a hint for the system, (it does not need
to be exact) as it tries to locate the nearest possible position next to your point.
Note that the toolpath will be generated on the whole surface, exactly up to the
surface edge or close to the nearest possible position.
Execute the procedure. Notice the gaps between the motion and the surface edge.
Zoom into the areas marked in red circles as shown in the picture below:
Note that the distance between the passes is equally spaced (less than the 10mm
specified) to ensure a smooth result!
CimatronE 10.0 5X Production Tutorial 15
Note that the original setting of the tool axis was fixed and normal to the faces.
(Tool axis direction = face normal at touch point).
Positive value = lead angle (tool leans to the movement direction).
Negative value = lag angle (tool leans away from the movement direction)
Save and Calculate the procedure. Switch to a side view and simulate
(WireFrame Simulation) the two procedures to see the results.
CimatronE 10.0 5X Production Tutorial 17
With this option the tool axis will be tilted at a fixed angle relative to the chosen axis.
The tilt axis can be towards the X, Y and Z axis or to any line created in the geometry.
Tilt axis and surface normal build a plane in which the tool tilts.
CimatronE 10.0 5X Production Tutorial 18
Execute, switch to front view and enter the Navigator to view the results.
The tool is now tilted towards X+ in a constant angle of 45 degrees all along the
TP. Notice that the CC (touch) point on the surface is maintained while the CL point
is moved due to the tilt.
Gouge Check
Display the Box set.
Edit the procedure and set the tool axis to the original position, by selecting the
Not to be tilted and stays normal to surface option.
Notes:
You have now activated the 1st set of the available gouge check sets. The gouge will
be checked only for the Flute and Shaft of the tool (in Cimatron terminology it would
mean the whole cut length).
This setting is defined by a check box under each one of the tool components. Notice
that there is a different clearance that can be set for each of them.
Arbor means Shank in Cimatron terminology.
There are different strategies to choose from, each of them will cause a different
behavior if a gouge is detected. In this case the tool will retract along its axis to a
position where it will not gouge anymore.
Unselecting the Drive surfaces (in the Geometry section of the dialog) tells the
system to check only against the Check surfaces, notice that in this case a different
stock to leave (offset) and tolerance can be set. Otherwise the system uses the
procedure tolerance and offset that are defined in the Cimatron parameter grid.
Notice the look of the Geometry dialog It includes all the geometry components
needed according to the settings you have previously defined.
Notice that check faces were machined as well! At all times the tool orientation is
kept normal to the drive face (cylinder).
Unlike in other procedures, the check faces in 5X Aerospace can be machined as well.
This behavior is defined in the strategy setting.
The drive surface in 5X Aerospace behaves similar to Aiming face in other
procedures.
CimatronE 10.0 5X Production Tutorial 24
Notice the difference. The previous procedures movement is done through less TP
nodes than the new one. There might be a possibility for a small gouge in that
movement.
Selecting this option causes the gouge check to be more accurate. The system adds
some checking TP nodes between the ones that are normally created, causing the
motion to be smooth and move more accurately around the geometry to prevent even
smaller gouges.
The target of this setting is to prevent the machining over the check faces and only to
proceed as far as 2 mm close to them.
Execute and view results.
Notice that the check surfaces are bypassed with some rectangular motions. The
highest Z point is at 150mm. The distance in the Y+ direction is even larger.
CimatronE 10.0 5X Production Tutorial 26
In the side view you will be able to view the offset distance from the check faces
by zooming into the area marked by the blue circle.
Step 4 Link
Step 4 Link
CimatronE 10.0 5X Production Tutorial 27
Link
Edit the procedure.
Select the Link tab. Press the Clearance area button.
CimatronE 10.0 5X Production Tutorial 28
Set the clearance Type to Cylindrical > Parallel to X and define the Radius at
120.
CimatronE 10.0 5X Production Tutorial 29
There are different options to define the clearance shape. In this case it will be a
cylinder of 120mm radius with the center passing through the UCS origin point
(through X=0 Y=0 Z=0). The options are described, as follows:
Feed distance: Last approach motion towards the material. In Cimatron this
motion would be the Delta_Z_Up or Surface Normal motions.
Rapid distance: Last rapid motion before the first feed motion. Performed in
the same direction.
The rapid motions bypassing the check surfaces have a cylindrical shape.
CimatronE 10.0 5X Production Tutorial 31
Notice that the created cylindrical motions are performed in a radius of 210mm
and not 120 as defined. The system will calculate the minimal safe distance needed in
order not to gouge any geometry. The search for a new safe height is performed in
steps of 10mm as defined in the Air move safety distance parameter.
Use Lead
Hide the cylinder set and show the cylinder2 set.
Edit the procedure and replace the drive surface with the new cylinder.
CimatronE 10.0 5X Production Tutorial 32
In surface paths tab change the cutting method to One Way. Click the Start
Point button and change the Rotate by (Deg) value to 2.
On the top of the dialog change the First Entry and Last Exit to Use Lead - In/
Out.
Use Lead In/Out means to do some other kind of motion than straight approach or
retract. The type of macro is defined in the lower part of the dialog. There is a special
Lead for entry (approach) and one for exit (retract), described as follows:
First Entry: First approach motion of a procedure.
Last Exit: Last retract motion of a procedure.
Notice the tangent approach and retract as a result of using the lead. There are a
few entry/exit types of motions to choose from in the lead
combo-boxes.
The shifted start point is the result of the Rotate by (Deg) 2 that was set in the Start
Point dialog.
Near the triangular hole two kinds of connection motions can be seen. One goes
directly over the hole and the other jumps to clear. These motions can be controlled.
Different motion behaviors can be set for the small gaps or large ones:
Notice that the connections are now direct over the triangle gap. By setting the
along cut to 300 % (of tool diameter) the system was told that up to 60mm (tool
diameter 20mm) the gap should be considered as small and the connection type will
be direct. The Blend spline setting resulted with smooth S-connections between the
slices.
Advanced options
Advanced options
In the Tool axis control tab select the Tilt with fixed 45 deg to X option.
In the Gouge check tab select the Moving tool away and the retract in YZ
plane options.
CimatronE 10.0 5X Production Tutorial 37
Notice that since the to Flip step over option is selected, the machining starts
from the other side. In order to prevent the gouging of the check faces (box) the tool
moves away from the geometry, and all these movements are performed on the YZ
plane, maintaining a constant X value.
CimatronE 10.0 5X Production Tutorial 38
Select the Retract tool along tool axis option in the Gouge check tab.
CimatronE 10.0 5X Production Tutorial 39
Notice that at all positions of the tool axis are pointing to the point picked.
Advanced
Use advanced collision controls to avoid gouging of vertical walls and sharp
corners.
Use more sophisticated options to apply different offsets to different sets of surfaces.
Study 5xProduction Pro holder collision.
Step1
Step1
Object direction
Open the SIMPLE_NC.elt file.
From the Analyze menu, select the Object direction option or click the
icon.
Toggle the Manual option to Auto. Select the face and apply the direction as
indicated in the picture below and then select the other black faces:
Note that after performing the operation, if entering the Object direction option,
all faces are in the right direction.
CimatronE 10.0 5X Production Tutorial 42
Create a Part procedure using the Select all Displayed Surfaces option.
CimatronE 10.0 5X Production Tutorial 43
Create a Surfaces Stock type procedure, from the faces set criteria with 1 mm
offset.
CimatronE 10.0 5X Production Tutorial 44
CimatronE 10.0 5X Production Tutorial 45
Press the BALL3 tab to access the cutter dialog. Add cutters from CimatronE file
,from the file: Simple_NC_Complete.elt . Select the
following three cutters and click OK.
Parallel to Curve
Press the Access button to access the 5X Production dialog. (Do not select any
geometry)
In the Surface Paths page select the Parallel to multiple curves pattern.
CimatronE 10.0 5X Production Tutorial 48
Use the Edge curves and Drive surfaces buttons in the dialog and select the
geometry as shown in the picture below:
Select the curve from the Curves set as the single edge.
Switch to the Link page and change the First entry and Last Exit to
Approach from/Retract to Rapid Distance.
CimatronE 10.0 5X Production Tutorial 49
Switch to the Tool Axis Control page and select Be tilted relative to cutting
direction as the Tool Axis option.
Set the Tilt Side Angle option to 90.
Select OK and Save & Calculate the procedure. Perform Wireframe Simulation
to examine result.
CimatronE 10.0 5X Production Tutorial 51
Notice that the cutter is tangent to the faces at each touch point.
By the above setting you have caused the cutter to Swarf mill the faces, cutting with
the cutter side.
Notice that the motion is interrupted at one point and the cutter retracts to clear height.
The retract motion is caused by the gap in the geometry. The cut along the lower edge
is interrupted.
The retract to clear option no longer exists and the motions are following the
faces as much as possible. Notice that the Drive Surfaces are being gouged by the
cutter all along the motion.
Open the dialog and select the Gouge Check tab. Check the 1st check group, set
the strategy to Tilt tool away with max angle, press the parameters tab and set the
angle to 90. Select only the Drive surfaces option.
Only one of the gouge check options is activated. The checking is done with the
cutting length of the cutter (Tool Tip and Tool Shaft) against the drive surfaces. The
strategy in case of gouge, will be to tilt the cutter sideways.
Select OK and Save & Calculate the procedure.
CimatronE 10.0 5X Production Tutorial 54
Notice that the cutter is tilted away just enough to touch the upper side of the drive
faces without gouging them.
Check the 2nd check group, set the strategy to Retract tool along tool axis.
Select only check surfaces, set 0.5mm as Stock to leave and 0.05 for Tolerance.
Unselect the Check gouge between positions (under the Advanced option).
With this setting the tool will retract along its axis whenever a gouge is detected,
within 0.5 mm from some check surfaces. The retract will be done until a point where
there is no longer a gouge.
Select the Check Surfaces (Set: 1st gouge) as shown in the picture below:
CimatronE 10.0 5X Production Tutorial 56
Select OK and Save & Calculate the procedure. Examine the results. Hide the
Curves set for a clearer display.
The tool is retracting along its axis just enough to go over the check faces. When it
passes the check faces it goes back to the original motion location.
CimatronE 10.0 5X Production Tutorial 57
Regular collision checking is calculated on surface points (TP-Nodes), this may lead
to minor gouges with the check surfaces.
The pictures above show what may happen while the cutter is moving from the
bottom point to the ones above. In some situations it can gouge the corner. (This
picture is performed with Check Surface Offset = 0).
Duplicate the procedure and edit it. Open the dialog and change to the Gouge
Check tab. Ensure that the Check gouge between positions checkbox is selected.
The system added TP-Nodes between the original ones in order to create a gouge free
motion when moving around the check faces obstacle.
At sharp inner edges you are facing the so called dove tail problem (see picture).
This causes damage to the drive surfaces. It is caused by the Tilt the Tool Away
collision check strategy.
The dove tail problem is a very common thing with 5X machining based on
surfaces. This will appear with all inner surfaces which have a fillet radius smaller
than the tool radius.
Duplicate the procedure and edit it. Open the dialog and check the Round
Corner checkbox.
CimatronE 10.0 5X Production Tutorial 60
Select OK and Save & Calculate the procedure. Examine the results.
Open the dialog and select the Link tab. Change the Small gap size to 500.
Edit the procedure. In the 1st gouge check group select the check surfaces (#1).
Applications
Applications
To help the users to cope with the many options available in the 5X Advanced Pro
package, a number of applications have been created. Each one is specially designed
for common 5X tasks. The control over the parameters is limited, but the ease of use
is greatly increased.
CimatronE 10.0 5X Production Tutorial 64
Impeller
Open the Impeller.elt file.
Milling impellers can be particularly complicated. The tool must be tilted constantly
to avoid gouging. Four application modules are now available to help the user get the
best toolpath possible.
Note: Applications are available only under 5X TP. Several applications can with
appropriate settings create a 4X TP.
CimatronE 10.0 5X Production Tutorial 65
Click on the Access button, notice the simplified Control Panel that opens.
CimatronE 10.0 5X Production Tutorial 66
Behind the scenes, the Morph Between 2 Surfaces option (within the "Pro"
package) has been selected. The number of sub-options has been greatly reduced,
such that you need to set only the most relevant ones to get the best results.
CimatronE 10.0 5X Production Tutorial 67
Impeller1
First we will select the geometry. It is clear which Right, Left and Floor faces
need to be selected.
Set the Cut Control parameters; Cutting method to Zigzag and Cut order to
From center away".
Set the Maximum Step-over to 2 and leave 0.5 mm for the Finishing
operations.
For Clearance we will choose a Sphere larger than the radius of the part (which
is about 70 mm) situated approximately at the center of the bottom.
CimatronE 10.0 5X Production Tutorial 68
Impeller2
Note that the Default Lead can be either set to In or Out for all situations.
Click the Default Lead - In/Out button and set the parameters as shown in the
pictures below:
Select OK.
CimatronE 10.0 5X Production Tutorial 70
Click on the Collision Control button and switch it from OFF to ON.
Now, check the 'Check Surfaces' check button, and press the Check Surfaces'
button. Select the walls and floor as Check Surfaces.
CimatronE 10.0 5X Production Tutorial 71
Impeller3
Finally (for now) we will set the Generate tool path only at front side option in
the Advanced menu.
Impeller4
Edit the procedure.
Measuring the blade at its deepest point, we see that it is more than 28 mm.
Impeller5
Edit the procedure and change the sub-selection to Pro.
Select:'By Criteria'.
Execute the procedure and view the results. Note that the layers have been
trimmed to the stock limits.
Impeller6
Now lets Finish Mill the floor of the impeller.
There are 2 applications for this; first we will use the Auto Tilt".
The geometry selection is retained from the previous procedure. But even
without it, it is clear what needs to be selected.
CimatronE 10.0 5X Production Tutorial 77
Impeller7
Edit the last procedure.
Change the Sub-Selection to Floor Finish.
CimatronE 10.0 5X Production Tutorial 79
Set the parameters to the same as we had with the Auto-Tilt and add the Tilt
Curve to guide the tool. Select OK, and execute the procedure.
(Tilt curves like this can easily be created by building a Blend Face between the
wings, and using Curve: From Face and creating a Section Line through the mid point
of the edge.)
CimatronE 10.0 5X Production Tutorial 80
Impeller8
We will Finish Mill the walls now with the side of the tool.
Create a new procedure with the Blade Swarf Finishing Subselection.
Turn on the Advanced Generate tool path only at front side option.
Set the other options as they were set in the previous procedures.
Since the walls are vertical, we want Tangential or Horizontal Tangential Arcs for
Default Lead-In/Out.
Execute the procedure and examine the results.