MachineWorks v8.6 Now Available

MachineWorks Ltd has announced the release of MachineWorks 8.6.

Following are some of the latest features, along with some highlights.

Toolpath Solids

Modifying existing implementations can be straightforward, as a simple set of options to enable/disable merging behaviour may be called from within an existing toolpath processing loop. 

The created solid can be used for Boolean operations, analyzed further, for example using slicing or silhouette creation, and exported from the MachineWorks session or saved to file.

Computation of End-Position Engagement

The MachineWorks polygonal Boolean can be used to create a solid of intersection representing the volumes of material removed during a cut. This can then be used in downstream analysis. 

For certain types of analysis it is desirable to consider only the parts of the tool surface that are in direct contact with the stock material at the end of a cut. This is a subset of the intersection solid, and represents an open surface as opposed to a closed watertight volume.

In MachineWorks 8.6 a new function has been added to extract the engagement surface on a per-cut basis. The intersection solid can also be queried separately.

Improved Support for Broaching Operations

Several internal improvements have been made to better support broaching operations. A new application programming interface (API) function supports nonconvex holder solids for the MachineWorks ‘electrode’ tool category. This allows customers who are using the material removal API to simulate a range of broaching machines, by using concave fixture solids to represent complex tool holders. 

Highlights include:

• Toolpath solids – a single solid representing the swept volume of a tool for an entire toolpath, or portion of it
• Computation of the end-position engagement surface, for cutting force analysis
• Improved support for U-axis machining with d’Andrea tool heads
• Improved support for broaching operations
• Support for a wider range of eccentric turning operations
• Snapshot / bookmark support in MachineWorks’ tri-dexel engine
• Transparency for design part comparison in Rapidcut
• Support for region highlighting in MachineWorks’ lightweight web client
• Support for additive simulation in the application framework and full machine simulation libraries
• Hard clash tolerances in sheet metal bending

Find out more about features of MachineWorks 8.6 on the new MachineWorks’ blog.

Sources: Press materials received from the company and additional information gleaned from the company’s website.

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