SPRING Technologies Announces NCSIMUL Machine 9.1

SPRING Technologies announced the latest version of NCSIMUL Machine 9.1, its flagship machining simulation software. The new release allows users to simulate composite material laying, and includes the integration of the NCdoc document publication module.

The new release makes it possible to replicate material laying processes executed by Numerical Control machines. NCSIMUL Machine 9.1 decodes all types of NC programs, representing the complete machine environment in 3D to identify and analyze programming errors and collisions, the company says. The “Composite” option of this version also enables a dynamic representation of fiber ribbon laying, taking into consideration the 3D form of the carbon fiber. The positioning of each fiber in the ribbon is managed independently.

The solution alerts users to issues that are specific to the way composites are processed and that are liable to occur on real-world machines. These include fiber steering angle errors generating possible deviation, twisting of taut fiber between the head and the position on the spool, fiber tension issues including speed disparities between fibers or sudden changes of direction creating backwards laying.

All the functions dedicated to composite technology are grouped together in a new Ribbon (Office mode).

The NCdoc add-on is now fully integrated into NCSIMUL Machine 9.1. As for the composite option, the technical content publication functions are accessed via a specific ribbon in the software’s MMI. The pages can be edited; by right-clicking, users can insert the 3D view of the machining in the document, while markup functions are also accessible to enrich the document if required before exporting the document in PDF or HTML format.

Intermediary rough stocks produced during a simulation are saved automatically at each tool, program, or sub-program change. This makes it possible to replay the simulation from the latest valid rough stock before the detection of an error (collision, alert, etc.) or a change, without having to start over.

Automatic removal of support lugs from the rough stock at the end of the simulation has been added. The solution automatically recognizes support lug information in order to keep the simulated part and not the associated scrap.

NCSIMUL Machine 9.1 currently enables machine accessories to be positioned automatically by processing the contact with tailstocks, rests and chucks on the machined rough stock. The tailstock, for example, will be positioned alone, in contact with the machined rough stock. With this new feature, the rests are closed as soon as they touch the machined rough stock.

To facilitate data exchange, the latest version of the software offers a new CAM interface with Alphacam 2013, in addition to the existing CAM interfaces.

For more information, visit SPRING Technologies.

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