Delcam (FeatureWIRE)

FeatureWIRE

 

 

Drawing

Gear and Cam Wizards

In addition to standard drawing tools, FeatureWIRE includes wizards that allow you to create industry-standard gears and cams by simply specifying the design parameters.

CREATING FeatureWIRE FEATURES

FeatureWIRE includes the following features for part creation.

Dies - Creates dies for stamping or female metal parts, with no-core cutting supported

Punches - Creates punches for stamping or male metal parts

Sides - Creates parts with open curves

User Definable Features

Manufacturing Details

Numerous milling and drilling options are included with FeatureMILL2.5D.

Extensive drilling and milling macros Control of cut direction, stop length and overlap distance Multiple skim cuts with support for reverse cut on every other pass Retract operation that creates a tab by retracting the wire when it reaches the stop length Cutoff operations to cut off the tab - a stop command is issued after the tab is cut for the retrieval of the part

Glue stop operation that stops before the slug is cut loose Contour operation that follows the shape of the curve - this can be used as a finish pass Pocketing and zig-zag operations for no-core cutting Cutter compensated toolpath or CAM offset toolpath Cutting of outside sharp corners using looped toolpaths Create one feature using multiple curves

Taper

• Constant taper using conical corners or cylindrical (ISO) corners

• Variable - conveniently specify a separate taper angle for each segment of the feature

4-Axis

• Full XYUV 4-axis contouring

• Automatic synchronization of upper and lower curves

• Graphical picking of upper and lower curve Synchronization points for manual specification

Post Processing

FeatureWIRE contains post processors for industry-leading machines, including Agie; Charmille, Fanuc, Mitsubishiand Sodick. FeatureWIRE supports unification of wire EDM postprocessor files info the XBUILD post processor files.

Automation

FeatureWIRE automatically provides the operations for different cutting strategies, retrieves the cutting conditions database, gener-ates toolpaths, creates NC code and provides simulation.

Simulation

With FeatureWIRE, slugs can be removed during 3D simulation.

Customizable Databases

FeatureWIRE's cutting conditions database contains wire EDM generator settings, flushing settings and cutter compensation settings. You can easily modify or extend the database to match the requirements of your wire EDM machine.

FeatureWIRE Improvements (2009 Version)

• New method for Interactive Feature Recognition by selecting faces to be machined
  
• Non-perpendicular leads gives the user more control
• Default leads for side feature
• New options for features with multiple curves
• Island for pocketing/zigzag to avoid air cutting
  and reduce machining time
• Lead style for contour pass
• New corner options
  - Rounded inside corners
  - Sharp outside corners
  - Triangular inside corners
• Contour overlap attribute
• Cut-off leave allowance gives the user more control
• Intelligent selection of start points for dies and punch features
• New rapid feature can be used to quickly move around a part using curves to avoid possible collision with fixtures.
  
• Initial wire location allows users to determine the wire and toolpath simulation start point.
• Spline tolerance
• Cut length details are now included within the Manufacturing Details ‘Operations List’.
• Cut the first pass on each curve first enable machinists to remove the cores of all the curves together, allowing the machine to finish cutting the part without intervention.