VERICUT V8.2 users get the heads up (display)

Over 60 people from 50 of the UK’s leading advanced manufacturing and technology companies attended CGTech’s latest VUE (VERICUT Users’ Exchange) event, held during October 2018, at Williams F1 Conference Centre, Wantage, Oxfordshire. The technical team from CGTech used the event to provide customers with a feature review of VERICUT 8.2, the latest release of the world’s most advanced independent CNC machine tool simulation and optimisation software.  Focus was on highlighting new convenience features that improve simulation visibility, speed workflow, and streamline each user’s verification process.

 

The event marked CGTech’s 30th anniversary and attendees were welcomed by Tony Shrewsbury, CGTech UK’s Managing Director. He emphasised that the company now “has a global customer base with 7,000 customers in 55 countries using around 20,000 seats of VERICUT to support the drive towards ever-increasingly complex components, produced on multi-axis machine tools and using advanced processes such as material deposition additive manufacturing.”

 

He continued, “Advances in VERICUT match the pace of the needs of the customers, providing an opportunity for VERICUT to support industries’ goals for efficiency and productivity.  Representing an accumulation of thousands of customer requests, this latest release of software has more user convenience features, such as continued modernising of the user interface; additional additive manufacturing functions; OptiPath and Force data sharing and many enhancements to those products, along with a plethora of detailed enhancements.”

 

Sales Engineer, Scott Ravenscroft, then went on to highlight these new features in the latest release. “A configurable Head-Up Display (HUD) improves simulation monitoring and visibility by showing the NC program, or machining and cutting status information, overlaid on top of VERICUT’s graphical views,” he explained.” It provides constant access to important details about the machining process, while keeping simulation views as large as possible for optimal viewing. A customisable Right-Mouse-Button Ribbon puts favourite VERICUT functions just a single click away, providing convenient access to external applications that programmers find useful, such as NC editors.”

 

He also explained the new NC Program Alert symbols and colours used to highlight errors and warnings found in NC programs, making it faster and easier to identify problem sources. “These enhancements make it much easier to identify where problem lines are without having to click on the message in the logger. Highlighting lines with Errors/Warnings in NC Programs the software now has ‘Quick-tip’ hover messages and is dynamically linked to the Message Logger. While the Forward/Back search is great for using in review mode.”

 

VERICUT’s Additive module simulates material added to a part, material deposition via powdered metal deposition, wire additive welding, gasket or sealant application, and other ‘additive’ processes. “An updated deposition algorithm offers speed improvements of up to 50% faster for multi axis applications and up to 85% for 3-axis 3d print types,” Scott Ravenscroft stated.

 

He continued: “The main reason for doing this was in preparation for simulating ‘Big Area’ additive builds. It also opens the door wider for simulating 3D print build files that tend to have a lot of code and huge file sizes, within a reasonable amount of time. New features for Additive Tools are being included as we learn more about the processes and important items users require, and VERICUT also warns about material added under ‘Bad’ conditions for tighter process control.”

 

Building on the additive manufacturing theme was a presentation on the DRAMA (Digital Reconfigurable Additive Manufacturing facilities for Aerospace) Project from the MTC, home to the National Centre for Additive Manufacturing. The project includes ATS, Autodesk, Granta Material Intelligence, Midlands Aerospace Alliance, NPL, Renishaw and the University of Birmingham, and aims to build a stronger AM supply chain for UK aerospace by developing a digital learning factory. The entire AM process chain will be digitally twinned, enabling the cost of process development to be de-risked by carrying it out in virtual environment. The facility will be reconfigurable, so that it can be tailored to fit the requirements of different users and to allow different hardware and software options to be trialled.

 

CGTech’s Managing Director, Tony Shrewsbury, said at the event: “VERICUT FORCE is a physics- and mathematics-based modelling software designed to optimise machining rates. The software uses actual data for cutting tool forces and spindle power readings to calculate maximum chip thickness and feed rate. So, it offers a number of technical benefits for machined parts within aerospace, automotive, industrial and other markets that use automated machining.

 

“VERICUT 8.2 adds Force Turning to optimise lathe and mill-turn operations, when combined with Force Milling. Force Turning makes it easy for anyone to create NC programs for optimal cutting of inside/outside diameters, shoulders, as well as in corners and tight spaces without the worry of encountering excessive cutting forces or high spindle power demands.”

More from Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence