PROGRAMING A 3 AXIS MACHINING CENTRE WITH TOPSOLID - PART I - MODELLING OF PIECES

STANIMIR Alexandru*, PANDURU Dumitru*, VADUVA Catalin*, TLU Liviu*, STANIMIR Marius** * University of Craiova Romania, **University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Craiova Romania Abstract: In these papers, part I and II, we present some results obtained on Computer Aided Programming of machine tools acquired by a group of students that followed an introductory course in TopSolid 2009 at the Faculty of Mechanics from Craiova and a traineeship in a factory that uses this software in production. Since the using of this software in our area is relatively recent, in the part I of these papers, we have found useful a short presentation of TopSolid software, in order to start focusing on the CAD module. The chosen case study in this paper refers to the modeling of a part that requires the use of the main features of this module and also the use of the main manufacturing processes that usually may be meet on a three-axis machining center. Key words: TopSolid, CAD, learning, case study

1. INTRODUCTION
Designing products that can be easily manufactured is one of the key challenges of companies nowadays. As result, a large game of computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing software (CAD/CAM) was developed and is used in mechanical, electrical, and electronic design; simulation, drafting, and engineering; and design analysis and manufacturing. Typically, CAD and CAM software run on mainframe computers, general-purpose workstations and personal computers [5, 6]. Computer Aided Design involves the use of computer hardware and graphics software to generate design drawings. Modern CAD equipment enables the designer to quickly produce very accurate and realistic images of products to be manufactured. There are several types of CAD/CAM software that are listed as CAD programs. Often, capabilities differ by application. For example, two-dimensional CAD or 2D CAD software is suitable for drafting services and general-purpose applications. By contrast, three-dimensional CAD or 3D CAD software is wellsuited for machine shops, product designers, reverse engineering, and complex surfacing [1, 3, 11, 12]. It is common to compare CAD-systems before deciding which to choose, or sometimes just out of curiosity. But there is no CAD-system that is best for everyone. They differ in price, functionality and sometimes also in their philosophy, like SpaceClaim is very different from Pro/ENGINEER. To illustrate some of the advantages of using TopSolid, can be mentioned Daniel Forsman [13] that has been teacher of CAD and Product Development for more than ten years at the University of Gvle and who recently started his own consultancy company, focusing on CAD and CAE using TopSolid 7 (the new improved software of TopSolid 2009) and NASTRAN. For him, being a startup, the price/performance-ratio was important. At this

point he founded TopSolid very hard to beat! Some of the things that made him a TopSolid convert were: Price/performance - cheaper than most of the well-known-programs, but at least the same level of useful functionality. It is working much faster in TopSolid 7 than either SolidWorks or Pro/ENGINEER. The new ribbon bar in TopSolid is much better that SolidWorks or Inventor use. It doesnt take up much space; it is really slick and easy to understand. The sheet metal-module is easily the best he has ever tried. Although very powerful it is but still easy to use. Amazingly fast graphics, beautiful realistic rendering (also real-time rendering) and the fastest drawing views. Mechanism-functionality is included from the beginning, making dynamic calculations of mechanisms possible. Very intelligent libraries of standard parts included. For working with wood, sheet metal manufacturing or CNC, TopSolid is very hard to beat. It is really intended for integrated CAD/CAM in those areas. For the beginner, the structure of the model tree could be very confusing. TopSolid is very different here than SolidWorks for example, using operations instead of plain features. TopSolid is not primarily intended as a CAE-platform. It has dynamic calculations of mechanisms and a basic FEA-module available. The user base of TopSolid is a lot smaller and it is not so easy to find information in forums or blogs. But these things can get better. The role of the typical university engineering program is to produce graduate engineers prepared to enter engineering practice, and to conduct applied and fundamental research in the engineering disciplines. Because of the rapid development of certain technologies by industrial research organizations and software developers, the engineering program may find itself lagging in the integration of current engineering practice and technology. Solid modeling is an example of a technology that found widespread acceptance in practice before it was adopted and integrated into most mechanical and manufacturing engineering programs. Two technologies that have been integrated into most of the mechanical and manufacturing engineering programs are finite element analysis (FEA), and numerically controlled machining (NC machining). Both of these technologies are widely practiced in industry. In the CAM application, details on lines and surfaces joining properly in the solid model are critical to creation of the NC code. Thus, model preparation is critical [4, 2, 14].

In this paper are evaluated some results obtained on Computer Aided Programming of machine tools acquired by a group of students that followed an introductory course in TopSolidDesign at the Faculty of Mechanics of the University of Craiova and a traineeship of two weeks at DiCo Romania, a factory that uses this software. 2. TOPSOLID 2009 MODULES AND INTERFACE
TopSolid is a contemporary CAD product that runs in the Windows environment, core product of a family of integrated software solutions developed by Missler Software that offer a global and integrated general mechanical solution for both design and manufacturing (fig.1). The family of solutions includes: TopSolidDesign: 3D design and surface modeling; TopSolidDraft: drawing features and 2D design; TopSolid'Castor: FEA analysis of structures in terms of volume beams and hulls; TopSolid'Pdm: connection to database; TopSolid'Mold: mold and tooling design; TopSolid'Progress: progression and stamping tool design; TopSolid'Sheet Metal: design of sheet metal applications; TopSolid'Cam: 2 to 5 axis 2D/3D milling and turning; TopSolid'Electrode: design of electrodes; TopSolid'Wood and WoodCam: integrated

design, manufacturing and management software for wood processing; TopSolid'Wire: Cam solutions for wire EDM; TopSolid'Erp: supply chain requirements from commercial to production management administration [7].

Fig. 1 Main view of TopSolid 2009 These products share the same user interface and associative database. For each module, Missler Software offers a product with real associative CAD/CAM, thus avoiding duplication of information transfer between the engineering and manufacturing departments. The result is an impressive gain in productivity. To make all this possible, TopSolid implements a method of design using functions and components that already contain the information needed for assembling and manufacturing [8, 9, 10]. In this paper have been used the modules Design and Draft, the selection of each of this can be seen in fig. 2 and fig. 3

Fig. 2 Selection of Design module

Fig. 3 Selection of Draft module

The TopSolid 2009 interface, presented in the figure 4, contains: title bars (software and document) 1, drop down menus 2, integrated system icon bar 3, work icon bar 4, prompt line bar with neutral point functions 5, context icon bar 6, symbolic tree or construction tree 7, status bar 8, alpha bar or message window 9, graphic area (work space) 10, current coordinate system 11, compass 12, quick layers bar 13, quick line styles bar 14 and symbolic tree indexes 15. The

drop down menus in the bar 2, allows the following functions: file management, print, document properties (File), element edition (curve, shape, operation etc) such as Duplicate, Repeat,

Fig. 4 Main view of TopSolid 2009 [7] Replace, Extract, Insert etc (Edit), parameter and values management of the document (Parameter), creation and modification of 2D element separated by a horizontal line (Curve), creation and modification of 3D element with the same organization as Curve (Shape), assembly functions and component creation (Assembly), movement management defined with kinematic joints between elements (Kinematics), movement management of elements assembled with constraints of forces and gravity (Dynamics), creation of coordinate system, point, dimension, constraint and options (Tools), information management related to an element as color, transparency, layer etc (Attribute), measure of distance, mass, inertia etc in the alpha bar (Analyze), piping functions (Piping), sheet metal design tools (Sheet metal), realistic rendering functions (Image), wood design functions (for TopSolidWood module), view creation tools as section, detail, auxiliary, along direction etc (View), dimension tools and modification of dimension format height, text, extremities etc (Dimension), bill of material creation and management as well as indexes (Bill of material), complete drawing with texts, geometrical tolerances and other symbols (Detailing), window management, i.e. Tile vertically (Window), online help, about TopSolid, modules version of TopSolid, codes etc (Help).

3. BRIEF PRESENTATION OF DESIGN MODULE TopSolid'Design is a fully integrated and associative 3D design software enabling the operator to draft and design products more efficiently. Kinematics, structural calculation, sheet metal processing and mechanical components form an integral part of TopSolids 3D design capabilities to improve efficiency in the 3D design process. TopSolids 3D design functions have no limits in terms of modeling and create the most complex surface and solid models. With TopSolidDesign, drafting and pre-dimensioning is easy and the management of assemblies with thousands of parts is no problem. One of the strengths of TopSolidDesign is the fact that operators can

draw in 2D or 3D by defining the design parameters, geometric parameters (spatial requirements, support surfaces etc) and dimensional parameters (length, diameter, etc). Usually, to create a 3 D model, first have to begin with a sketch or a contour over existing sketch lines, or on the grid of the active coordinate system. Closed contours are automatically created when the start point is re-selected.
For finalizing a sketch or a contour in a proper way, it has to be dimensioned and constrained using the icons form the work icon bar (fig. 5 and fig. 6).

Fig. 5 Work icon bar for a contour creation

Fig. 6 Work icon bar for a sketch creation In order to create a 3D surface or a solid, from the context icon bar 6 (fig. 4), have to select Surface or Shape icons. Generally, if the profile is open a surface is created and if it is closed a solid is created. The work icon bar for each of this context icons are shown in figures 7 and 8. Using the icons from the work icon bar the surfaces or the solids can be dimensioned and customized as required.

Fig. 7 Work icon bar for a shape creation

Fig. 8 Work icon bar for a surface creation

4. CASE STUDY
The chosen case study in this paper refers to the modeling of a part that requires the use of the main features of Design module like points, circles, sketch lines, curves, offset contours, axis and coordinate system in the sketch mode and extrude, boss, drilling, pocket, propagate operation in shapes mode. Also the shape of chosen part assumes the use of the main manufacturing processes that usually may be met on a three-axis machining center. The part of which 3 D model has to be completed is shown in the figure 9. That design was realized in the Draft module of Top Solid, after the 3D solid creation.

Fig. 9 The part In order to create a new Design document it follows the next steps: Open TopSolid New doccument Design, afted that, the interface of TopSolid Design it is open and ready to work (fig. 10).

Fig. 10 The TopSolid Design interface with the work coordinate system Creating the sketch: - generate two orthogonal sketch lines in the origin of coordinate system using the sequence: Curves Create sketch line Line type (dotline) and the option CHANGE TO VERTICAL/HORIZONTAL and clicking on the origin point ESC Key; - create the origins of circles using the sequences: Tools Points Basic point Position -50,40 enter key Position 50,40 enter key Position 10,-64Enter keyESC Key; - circles creation using the sequences: CurvesCreate circleRadius=10enter keyselect the points with the cursor Radius=60enter keyselect the origin point with the cursor ESC Key; - dimensioning using the sequence: Curves dimension and the element to dimension is selected with the cursor ESC Key (like in the picture 11) ;

Fig. 11 Create sketch lines and circles

Fig. 12 Create contour

- contour creation using the sequence (fig. 12): CurvesCreate contourLine type (continous line)left mouse buton click on top of R60 circle and create contour with the cursor selecting the appropriate Link (line or circle with Arc Radius 10mm)close contour selecting the start point of contour creation ESC Key; - pocket creation (fig. 13) following the steps 1...5: 1. circle R50 mm creation using the sequence: CurvesCreate circleRadius=50enter key select the origin point with the cursor ESC Key; 2. one side offset creation on the horizontal sketch line using the sequence:

CurvesCreate offset contour Line type (dotline) Reference curve: left mouse button click on the horizontal sketch lineDistance=3mmenter keyDimension location: select with the left mouse button the dimension locationMode=ONE SIDEThru point: change if necessary with the left mouse button the direction of red arrow ESC Key; 3. 60 and 120 oriented sketch line creation using the sequences: Curves Create sketch line Line type (dotline) Angle=60 (or 120) Enter key select the origin point with the cursor ESC Key; 4. one side offset creation on the 60 oriented sketch line (using a sequence similar to step 2); 5. both side offset creation on the 120 oriented sketch line using the sequence: CurvesCreate offset contour Line type (dotline) Reference curve: left mouse button click on the 120 oriented sketch lineMode=BOTH SIDESDistance=6mmEnter keyDimension location: select with the left mouse button the dimension location ESC Key; 6. creation of a sketch line perpendicular on the 120 oriented sketch line using the sequences: Curves Create sketch line Line type (dotline)DIRECTION OF REFERENCE select 120 oriented sketch line with the cursor OK CHANGE TO VERTICAL select the origin point with the cursor ESC Key; 7. one side offset creation at 45 mm distance of the sketch line created at the previous step; 8. contour pocket creation using a Arc radius of 10mm.

Fig. 13 Create pocket contour

Fig. 14 Repeat pocket

- creation of the three pockets with the repeat command, using the sequence (fig. 14): Curves Edit Repeat Template elements to repeate: left mouse button click on the pocket contour CIRCULAR Propagation axis: left mouse button click on the R50 circle OK Total angle: 360 Enter key Total number: 3 ESC Key. Creating the solid: - extrusion of external contour using the sequence (fig. 15): Shapes Create extruded shape Section curves or text: left mouse button click on the external contour Height: 9mm Enter key ESC Key; - boss creation using the sequences (fig. 16): CurvesCreate circleRadius=55Enter key Line type (dotline) Center: left mouse button click on the origin of the coordinate system ESC Key; Shapes Boss Referance face: left mouse button click on the top surface Curve(s): left mouse button click on the circle R=55 Boss parameters Height: 7mm (fig. 17) OK ESC Key;

Fig. 15 Extrusion of external contour

Fig. 16 Boss creation

- pockets creation on 7mm deep using the sequence (fig. 20): Shapes Pocket Referance face: left mouse button click on the top face of the boss Curve(s): left mouse button click on the pocket contour Pocket parameters (fig. 18) Depth: 7mm OK ESC Key; - creating three 8mm holes by repeating the sequence for each R10mm round edge (fig. 21): Shapes Drilling Face to drill: left mouse button click on the face of extruded shape First alignment face or edge: left mouse button click on the round edge R10mm Drilling models: hole OK Diameter: 8mm (fig. 19) OK ESC Key; - creating six M8mm tapered holes (fig. 21) following next 1-4 steps: 1. recuperate the sketch lines: Curves Driving element Element or opperation to treat: left mouse button click on a pocket ESC Key; 2. create a point on the intersection between R50 circle and 120 sketch line: Curves Tools Points Curve-curve intersection pointFirst curve: left mouse button click on the 120 sketch lineSecond curve: left mouse button click on the R50 circle ESC Key; 3. create a coordonate system on a point: Curves Tools Coordinate systems Coordinate system on point Origin point: left mouse button click on just created point OK ESC Key; 4. create hols+tapping: Shapes Drilling Face to drill: left mouse button click on the top face of boss First alignment face or edge: left mouse button click on origin coordinate system just created Drilling models: hole+tapping OK hole+tapping Denomination: M8, Depth: 7mm (fig. 22) OKPropagate CIRCULARPropagation axis: left mouse button click on the R50 circleOK360Total number:6Enter key ESC Key;

Fig. 17 Boss parameters

Fig. 18 Pocket parameters

Fig. 19 Hole parameters

Fig. 20 Create pocket

Fig. 21 Create holes and tapered holes

- extracting one tapered hole using the sequence (fig. 23): Shapes Edit Modify Element to modify: left mouse button click on the M8 hole Operation to modify: circular propagation EXCLUDE INSTANCE Instance to exclude: left mouse button click on the M8 hole OK ESC Key; - delete upper right pocket using the sequence (fig. 22 and 23): Shapes Edit Break associativity left mouse button click on pocket contour, when all three are red colored left mouse button click on margin of context icon bar to open the three entities (fig. 22) select composite curve and Delete ESC Key;

Fig. 22 Pocket deleting

Fig. 23 The final part model

5. CONCLUSIONS
Based on the students results analyze concerning the programming of machine tools with Top solid software, we can conclude: - The TopSolid interface is friendly, easy to use and well accepted by students due to its suggestive icons; - Although the amount of information necessary for the proper use of the TopSolid Design module is large compared to the time that was provided for study, each student who attended the course, proved to be able to model the parts under current production of the DiCo company; - Using Draft module, in association with the module Design is useful to achieve the necessary databases, considering the periodic repetition of the same parts.

6. REFERENCES

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