Software evolves with industry: Research & Innovation

The challenges of high-temperature materials like titanium, plus increased pressure to reduce cycle times and costs, are forcing manufacturers in aerospace, energy, medical and other industries to seek new methods to machine these materials in the most productive ways possible.

CAM software providers continually improve their products to keep pace with the evolution of materials while adapting to innovations on the side of cutting and machine tools. The goal is to develop toolpath strategies that address the machining characteristics and challenges that these materials present, as well as to exploit developments with machine and cutting tools. Research and testing often uncover surprises.

For example, Tolland, Connecticut-based CNC Software Inc., developer of Mastercam, operates a manufacturing lab for toolpath and machining research to gain hands-on feedback on CAM developments. Personnel ranging from application engineers and product specialists to the partnership team use the lab to test new ideas under typical shop conditions. What makes the lab unique is its collaboration with industry leaders in the machine and cutting tool fields. The facility regularly cycles through equipment to accurately replicate customer environments, and cutting tool partners often use the lab to test their most recent technological advancements.

CNC Software operates a manufacturing lab for toolpath and machining research to gain hands-on feedback on CAM developments. Image courtesy of CNC Software

A recent project involved testing a counterintuitive roughing strategy that potentially could translate into large cycle time reductions for titanium parts. This theory was grounded in earlier lab tests. Leveraging the optimum cutting condition and constant chip load capabilities of Mastercam’s Dynamic Motion toolpaths, the lab ran a test with D2 tool steel at an 80% step-over and 200% DOC with a 9.525 mm (0.375″) dia. tool. Even at a more traditional feed rate of 1.7 m/min. (65 ipm), the material removal rate was still over 40% greater than using the high-speed machining, radial chip thinning approach that’s more common in the industry. This new “power cutting” method required higher horsepower usage and more rigid workholding, yet the MRR and cycle times were far better. The lab wondered if similar results were possible in superalloys, such as titanium.

The lab often is approached by cutting tool partners to test new tools, and the team’s effort isn’t limited to our own shop. So when Arlington, Texas-based Iscar Metals Inc. offered to test a new tool at the company’s new technology center in Charlotte, North Carolina, on an Okuma MB-4000 horizontal machining center, we jumped at the chance.

Tom Raun, chief technical officer at Iscar Metals, suggested using a 9.525 mm ECKI (Ti-Turbo) series carbide endmill for the titanium test cut. This line of endmills is designed specifically for aggressive rough milling of titanium and is capable of full slot machining at depths up to two times the cutting diameter. The HMC had the horsepower and performance needed to compare a high-speed chip thinning approach with a power cutting strategy to validate any cycle time gains.