With the AMB show being the European launch platform for new products and innovations in September, the DMG Mori ‘Innovation Week’ was an opportunity for UK manufacturers to see first-hand, what the company and its technology partners had to offer.
Whilst DMG Mori introduced a number of new machine tools to a hungry audience, its technology partners such as Sandvik, Hexagon, Micron Workholding and OPEN MIND Technologies all had new developments of their own. For OPEN MIND, the focus was on the new hyperCAD-S platform and new 5-axis machining strategies incorporated into the latest version of hyperMILL 2014.2.
With the event having a specific industry focus on each of the five days, OPEN MIND used the ‘Innovation in Aerospace’ day to introduce the new features built into hyperMILL and hyperCAD-S. From a practical standpoint, this took shape in a live on-machine demo of an aircraft undercarriage component being machined on a DMG NTX2000 mill/turn centre. The demo part highlighted OPEN MIND’s new features that further improve HSM, 5-axis strategies and power-cutting to maximise stock removal.
This on-machine demo was accompanied by a technical presentation by OPEN MIND UK’s sales director, Mr Ken Baldwin. The 30 minute presentation to a packed seminar theatre of enthusiastic engineers encompassed an overview of OPEN MIND’s new Direct Modelling feature that sits within hyperCAD-S. This provides programmers a ‘just do it’ approach to design with a modelling strategy that gives end users the power to quickly define and capture a geometry.
In real terms, it allows a programmer/designer to focus on creating a geometry rather than building features, constraints and design intent into models, which is the historical working method with the widely used Parametric Modelling strategy used by alternate CAD vendors. By adopting hyperCAD-S and its Direct Modelling strategy as opposed to the industry accepted Parametric Modelling, end users can eliminate the time-old process of anticipating and defining feature constraints, relations and dependencies to ensure that any design modification will update all related downstream geometries in a predefined way. With engineers keenly nodding in acceptance of this new methodology, Mr Baldwin highlighted the benefits by showing a Parametric model that was created in 7minutes 31seconds then being created in 4minutes and 46seconds with hyperCAD-S – a time saving of 36%.
As well as demonstrating the practical and theoretical benefits of hyperCAD-S, the technical presentation also highlighted how a new geometric kernel, new database, graphics and user interface with touch support plus a new API for internal and external developers within hyperCAD-S can benefit the end user.
On top of presenting the benefits of hyperCAD-S, another prominent aspect was the utilisation of 5-axis machining strategies within 2D & 3-axis applications to improve productivity on the shop floor. One example of this was the new 5-axis pocket strategy in hyperMILL. The 5X immersion method has been proven to reduce axial forces and loads on the cutting tool and spindle whilst permitting increased step-overs for significant gains in productivity.
With DMG Mori’s aerospace customer base in attendance, OPEN MIND hit a key chord with many of its new developments. Focusing upon delivering shorter programming times, faster processing time, longer tool life and better surface quality, the OPEN MIND presentation and on-machine demos combined to impress the attendees of this event.
