Also there are many domestic CAM software such as CAXA's Manufacturing Engineer.
Microcomputer-based CAD/CAM software system selection
Abstract: Introduces the market's common microcomputer-based CAD/CAM software package functions and features, and puts forward the selection principles and methods. Selection of appropriate microcomputer-based CAD/CAM software, microcomputer and CNC machine tools to form a shop-facing system will greatly improve the design efficiency and quality, and can give full play to the superiority of CNC machine tools.
1, Preface
CIMS is the development direction of industrial automation. As the core technology of CIMS CAD / CAM system, mainly to support and realize the product object design, analysis, process planning, CNC programming and a series of production activities such as automated processing [1]. In recent years, with the rapid development of computer and CNC technology, CAD/CAM has gradually entered the practical stage, widely used in aerospace, automotive, machinery, mold manufacturing, home appliances, toys and other industries. In particular, the widespread use of CNC machine tools, making CAD/CAM technology has become one of the effective means for enterprises to achieve a high degree of automation design and processing. Currently CAD / CAM system running hardware and software environment there are two main: one is a workstation, the other is a microcomputer. With the development of hardware technology, in the graphics processing workstations and microcomputer differences between gradually narrowed. Due to the microcomputer hardware investment is far less than the workstation, and easy to master, user-friendly software development, transplantation and expansion, microcomputer and a variety of CNC devices with mature communication technology, so the microcomputer has gradually become the main platform for all types of CAD / CAM software.
CAD / CAM system performance depends on both the hardware system is good or bad, but also by the software performance constraints. A good CAD / CAM software system will help faster programming and processing of more complex machining operations, help to improve the quality of work, improve productivity and profits. Therefore, choosing the right CAD/CAM software package is a very important matter. The following highlights the performance and characteristics of common microcomputer-based CAD/CAM software packages on the market, as well as selection principles and methods.
2, the principle of selecting CAD / CAM software
First of all, we should widely understand and compare the various software performance and price. Each software has its own advantages and disadvantages, the most applicable software is the best software. Selection of software, should be to meet the needs of the premise, in addition to price factors, should consider the following aspects.
(1) the ease of operation and use First of all, attention should be paid to the installation of the software on the operating system and hardware requirements, whether it can run directly on the ordinary configuration of the microcomputer, the need to increase which special accessories. Secondly, then check the various subsystems of the software, such as interface design is logical and easy to read, how the submenu at all levels of management and display, how users communicate with the system. A good software should also be easy for beginners to master, easy to operate and practical, generally should include learning modules for beginners and instant help system.
(2) the degree of integration of software A complete CAD/CAM software system is composed of multiple functional modules, such as three-dimensional drawing, graphics editing, surface modeling, CNC machining, finite element analysis, simulation, dynamic display. These modules should be based on an engineering database for unified management. This not only maintains the integrity and consistency of the underlying data, realizes the data **** enjoyment, but also saves system resources and movement time. Some CAD/CAM software, on the other hand, is based on file management, which leads to a large degree of data redundancy, occupies a large amount of storage space, lacks data security measures, and is not conducive to engineering data management.
(3) CAD function Should be able to design and produce both to meet the design requirements for use and suitable for CAM machining parts model. Excellent CAD system is an efficient design tool, should have parametric design function, three-dimensional solid model and two-dimensional engineering graphics should be able to transform and relate to each other.CAD can be divided into two categories of automatic design and interactive design. Automatic design is highly efficient, but the flexibility is poor, only for high degree of standardization, the product structure is fixed products; interaction design flexibility, can give full play to the designer's initiative, but the efficiency is low, the more interaction the more complex the lower the efficiency. In fact, there is almost no pure automatic design or pure interaction design software, good software can be based on the object of the product to properly deal with automatic design and interaction design with. In addition, the open structure not only facilitates the secondary development of users, but also makes the software system itself can be continuously expanded and improved. Of course, it is also necessary to consider its compatibility with other CAD / CAM software, pay attention to the software comes with the graphics file interface, to see what kind of graphics file conversion it can support, whether or not it can read graphics files from other systems, or the system's graphics files transferred to other systems.
(4) CAM function CAM function should be able to provide a method of interactive programming and generate machining trajectory, which includes machining planning, tool setting, process parameter settings, etc. CAM function test should pay attention to the following aspects:
①The difficulty of establishing two-dimensional and three-dimensional tool paths;
②Diversity of machining methods;
③ whether the tool path is easy to edit and modify;
④ whether there is a tool and material database, so that the system can automatically generate the feed rate and spindle speed;
⑤ whether there is a built-in anti-collision and anti-collision overcutting function;
⑥ whether it is possible to manually overshoot any machining default values (e.g., feed rate, spindle speed, etc.);
⑦ whether it is possible to simulate and estimate machining time for machining processes. Simulation and estimation of machining time.
(5) post-processing programs and CNC code output General CAD / CAM systems use post-processing programs to provide user-friendly CNC code output, so that users can flexibly use different CNC devices. When choosing software, you should know the following:
①What post-processing and programs are provided. Whether it includes post-processing programs for lathes, wire-cutting, EDM machines or three-dimensional five-axis CNC programming;
② Whether the post-processing program can be fine-tuned so that the CNC output meets the user's requirements;
③ Whether it is possible to reverse process the NC program to display the tool path.
(6) upgrade methods and technical support should be aware of the company in recent years to update the version of the situation, to confirm the upgrade method; the company has no office in China or the local area, what technical support can be provided; whether or not the need for technical training, in what way, etc..
3, common microcomputer-based CAD/CAM software package
(1) UG Unigraphics (UG) is the United States EDS company released CAD/CAE/CAM integration software. Widely used in aerospace, automotive, general machinery and mold and other fields. Domestic and foreign has been many research institutes and manufacturers have chosen UG as the enterprise CAD / CAM system. UG can run on the Windows NT platform, regardless of the assembly drawing or part drawing design, from the beginning of the three-dimensional entity modeling, the degree of visualization is very high. After the 3D entity is generated, it can automatically generate 2D views, such as three-view, axial side view, sectional view and so on. Its three-dimensional CAD is parameterized, a part size modification, can lead to changes in related parts. The software also has a human-computer interaction under the finite element solution program, can be strain, stress and displacement analysis.UG's CAM module provides a way to generate accurate tool paths, the module allows users to observe the tool movement to graphically edit the toolpath, such as extension, trimming, etc., the post-processing program with a wide range of support for CNC machine tools.UG has a variety of graphic file interfaces that can be used for Modeling design of complex shapes, especially suitable for large enterprises and research institutes to use.
(2) Pro/ENGINEER Pro/ENGINEER is the U.S. Parametric Technology Corporation (PTC) developed CAD/CAM software, there are more users in China. It uses object-oriented unified database and full parametric modeling technology, for three-dimensional entity modeling provides an excellent platform. Its industrial design program can directly read the internal parts and assembly files, when the original modeling is modified, with automatic update function. Its MOLDESIGN module is used to build geometric shapes, generate mold cores and cavities, and produce finishing parts and perfect mold assembly files. The newly released version 20.0 offers optimal machining path control and intelligent machining path creation, allowing NC programmers to control the overall machining path down to the finest detail. The software also supports high-speed machining and multi-axis machining with multiple graphic file interfaces.
(3) I-DEAS I-DEAS is a complete CAD/CAM system developed by SDRC in the United States, which focuses on engineering analysis and product modeling. It uses an open data structure, the entity modeling, finite element modeling and analysis, computer graphics, experimental data analysis and synthesis, CNC programming and document management into one, and thus can be in the design process to better achieve computer-aided mechanical design. Through the public interface and *** enjoy the application database, the software modules are integrated into one system. Among them, solid modeling is the foundation of I-DEAS, which includes modules for object modeling, system assembly and mechanism design. The object modeling module can form sculptured surfaces by defining smooth surfaces composed of non-uniform rational B-spline curves; the system assembly module expresses the relationship of components through the positioning of given geometric entities, and can realize the interference test and the calculation of physical properties; the mechanism design module is used to analyze the complex motion relationship of the mechanism and can display the motion process of the linkage mechanism through animation.
(4) CATIA CATIA was first developed by the French Dassault Aviation Company, and currently belongs to IBM, is a high-grade CAD/CAM/CAE system, widely used in aviation, automotive and other fields. It adopts feature modeling and parametric modeling techniques, allowing variable design with parametric, geometric or functionalized constraints to be specified automatically or by the user. Based on the 3D wireframes it provides, users can accurately build, modify and analyze 3D geometric models. Its surface modeling capabilities include advanced surface design and free-form design for complex curve and surface definitions, and many automated features, including analysis tools, that accelerate the surface design process.CATIA provides an assembly design module that creates and manages 3D-based parts and constraints for mechanical assemblies, automates the definition of part-to-part connections, and facilitates the early analysis of kinematic mechanisms, greatly accelerating the design of assemblies. CATIA has an NC process database with information on tools, tool components, materials and cutting conditions, which automatically calculates machining times, replays and verifies tool paths, and allows users to check and modify tool trajectories through graphical displays. The software's post-processing program supports milling, lathe and multi-axis machining.
(5) Surfcam Surfcam, developed by Surfware of California, is a Windows-based CNC programming system with a new perspective base for automated color editing, which can quickly and simply break down a model into cores and cavities, thus saving programming time for complex parts. The software's CAM functions feature automated constant Z-level roughing and finishing, which allows parts to be cut on curved surfaces without impact at a range of Z levels using round-, ball- and square-ended end mills. For some jobs, this machining method can increase roughing efficiency and reduce finishing time. v7.0 version fully supports microcomputer-based solid model building. In addition Surfware company and SolidWorks company signed a cooperation agreement, SolidWorks design part will become Surfcam design front-end, Surfcam will be hung directly under the SolidWorks menu, the two complement each other.
(6) Virtual Gibbs Gibbs & Associates launched a CAM software package as early as 1984, and recently introduced a new module for solid modeling and multi-surface machining Virtual Gibbs. This module can be used to create, input, modify, and processing of three-dimensional solid models and surfaces, and can run on Windows 95 and Windows NT operating systems. This module can be used to create, input, modify and machine 3D solid models and surfaces, and runs on Windows 95 and Windows NT operating systems. The software has a process control feature that allows the user to go back to any previous step and make changes. The software automatically introduces changes throughout the model and toolpath, providing maximum flexibility and efficiency. The multi-surface machining capabilities provided by the software allow many machining processes to be automated and multiple tools can be used in a single setup, simplifying programming and saving time. The software also provides an interface to IGES graphics files.
(7) Cimatron Cimatron is developed by Cimatron Technologies, which can run on DOS, Windows, or NT, is an early microcomputer CAD/CAM software. Its CAD section supports the design of complex curves and complex surface modeling, and has a large market in the small and medium-sized mold manufacturing industry. After determining the tools to be used for the process, its NC module is able to check where the material should be left unprocessed, machining areas of the part that conform to certain geometric or technical rules. By saving technical samples, the system can be instructed how to make cuts that can be reapplied to other machined parts, so-called knowledge-based machining. The software is capable of machining mixed models containing solids and surfaces. It also has interfaces to a wide range of graphic files such as IGES, DXF, STA, CADL, and others.
(8) Master CAM Due to the cheap price, Master CAM is a widely used low-grade CAD/CAM software, developed by the United States CNC Software, V5.0 or more running on Windows or Windows NT. the software three-dimensional modeling function is a little worse, but the operation of the simple and practical, easy to learn. New machining options give users greater flexibility, such as multi-surface radial cutting and projecting toolpaths onto an unlimited number of surfaces. The software also includes a new C-axis programming feature that smoothly combines milling and turning. Other features such as diameter and face cutting, automatic C-axis transverse drilling, and automatic cutting and tool plane setting contribute to efficient part production. Its post-processing programs support milling, turning, wire EDM, laser machining, and multi-axis machining. In addition, Master CAM offers a wide range of graphic file interfaces such as SAT, IGES, VDA, DXF, CADL, and STL.
4, conclusion
Select the appropriate microcomputer-based CAD/CAM software, microcomputer and CNC machine tools to form a workshop-oriented system, will greatly improve the design efficiency and design quality, give full play to the superiority of CNC machine tools, improve the overall production level, and realize the system integration and design and manufacturing integration.