Following an error-free path: Turning Performance

END USER: DutchAero BV, 011-31-40-2578-484, www.dutchaero.nl.
CHALLENGE: Confirm toolpath programming is free of errors.
SOLUTION: NC program simulation and verification software.
SOLUTION PROVIDER: CGTech, (949) 753-1050, www.cgtech.com.

DutchAero BV produces aerospace parts at its 2,000-sq.-meter facility in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, with its skilled staff of about 100. The parts include ones for airplane engines made from difficult-to-machine titanium alloys and heat-resistant superalloys, such as Inconel, as well as aluminum structural components.

“Engine parts have steadily increased and now only a small segment of what we machine falls into the structural component category,” said Patrick Delisse, HSM CAM engineer for DutchAero. Some parts have cycle times that cover multiple shifts, such as ones for the Lightning II joint strike fighter’s F136 engine.

Courtesy of CGTech

Patrick Delisse, HSM CAM engineer for DutchAero, uses CGTech’s Vericut and OptiPath software to ensure machine tool safety and cutting efficiency.

In addition to the workpiece materials, part complexity has become more challenging for the company. “To produce these parts efficiently, we required more complicated machine tools,” Delisse said. These included a 4-axis Makino machine and a Starrag STC630 machine that can perform simultaneous 5-axis milling.

To confirm error-free programming of the toolpaths to prevent collisions among the machine tool structure, workpiece, workholding fixture and cutting tool, DutchAero needed NC program verification and simulation software. The company selected Vericut from CGTech, Irvine, Calif., because the software is independent of the CAD/CAM system and performs the verification on post-processed NC code.

“The use of Vericut is now mandatory, and no programs are released to the shop floor without first being verified by the software,” Delisse said.

CAD/CAM data comes from DutchAero’s Siemens NX (Unigraphics) software, while Vericut independently verifies and simulates that the toolpaths will run gouge-free and a machine’s axes movements will not cause any collisions.

The latest machines DutchAero installed, a Breton 5-axis mill/turn machine and a Starrag STC 5-axis machine, are used to produce blisks. CGTech’s technical support team provided the virtual model for the Starrag machine tool, complete with details of the CNC system emulation, and the interaction and motion travels of its axes—its kinematics. Breton provided a model of its machine as a Vericut file and Delisse added the control system emulation and machine kinematics.