In addition, the ball end on the tip of the conical barrel cutter can be used to clean fillets and blend surfaces, using the same cutter.Įngine components are generally classified in two categories – multi-blade and single-blade. Though the tangent barrel cutter provides some benefit, the conical barrel cutter is generally superior to enable larger barrel radius and to allow shorter cutters without interference from the cutter holder.Ĭonical barrel cutters exhibit long life and very consistent machining performance. The machining benefits far outweigh the increased cost of conical barrel cutters, especially in aerospace production applications. The result is a shorter and stiffer cutter without interference from the cutter holder. The benefit of having the taper angle is that the cutter axis can be pulled away from the surface being cut. The conical barrel cutter has the large barrel radius ground on a tapered feature, compared to a traditional barrel cutter where the large radius blend to be tangent to the cutter shank. This enables the cutting time for these surfaces to be reduced by 90% or more. Open Mind’s hyperMILL MAXX Machining finishing approach uses a conical barrel cutter to enable a barrel contact radius of 1,000mm or more, thereby producing a wider step-down 10x to 15x compared to that of a ball-nose endmill. Recent innovations include applying barrel cutter geometry to these surfaces.
HyperMILL MAXX Machining and conical barrel cutters enable large contact radius and clearance from wall surfaces This point milling method increases cutting time dramatically. In these cases, or other cases that do not have ruled surface walls, the next best option is point milling in many passes by using the tip of a ball-nose endmill with a small step-over. For larger wall surfaces, the swarf milling operation may lead to vibration in the cutter or in the wall surface, or multiple steps with overlap and inconsistent deflection patterns. This process enables very good performance, but is limited to ‘short’ wall surfaces typically up to 50mm height. The surfaces of standard structural parts are machined with a swarf milling operation, with the side of the cutter aligned to the side of the part. Following high-performance roughing operations, innovative finishing techniques can have a big impact on results. In cases of shaped structural components (some wing segments for example or doors), a 5-axis roughing process provides a huge benefit to subsequent machining processes. This machining approach is based on Celeritive’s Volumill kernel, but has been extended by Open Mind to have applications for 5-axis roughing. Open Mind offers hyperMILL MAXX Machining as its roughing module.
#Hypermill and volumill software#
Many CAM software programs have a high-performance roughing module. Not only is this important in typical 3-axis structural components, but equally crucial in 5-axis components. Up to 90% or more of the block weight may be removed during roughing processes. High-performance roughing is necessary to bring aluminium blocks or plates to near-net shape. The ideal CAM software for aerospace manufacturers has to excel at high material removal and machining of aluminium structures, and work well with high precision requirements of compressors and turbines that are often machined with long slender cutters. The focus may be on processes such as 5-axis milling, mill-turn, or wire EDM. There are many CAM software products in the market and most have targeted capabilities. Specialist CAM solution provider, Open Mind reveals how its software technology is helping customers keep pace with the latest aerospace manufacturing challenges.
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