Mastercam Version 9 SolidsTutorial - Part 9 pptx

Designing an Electrode Mastercam Version 9 Solids Tutorial 251 9 Designing an Electrode In this chapter, you will create an electrode with the shape of the standoff from the mold core that you created in the previous chapter. The electrode will be used in a plunge, or die sinking, EDM (Electrical Discharge Machining) application to form a cavity in a workpiece. Note: A backup file containing the mold core was provided with the other tutorial parts in case you did not complete Chapter 8. You will build on skills that you learned in previous chapters and learn new skills, such as:  Creating a sheet solid by removing a solid face  Using a solid face to define a construction view  Thickening a sheet solid  Creating non-associative disjoint bodies Exercise 1 – Creating a sheet solid from the mold core In Exercise 4 of Chapter 8, you created a sheet solid by stitching together surfaces whose edge gaps were too large to form a closed solid body. In this exercise, you will create a sheet solid by removing a face from a closed solid (the mold core). Chapter 9 252 Mastercam Version 9 Solids Tutorial Preparing the part You will hide all geometry except for the mold core and define a level on which to create the electrode. 1. Choose Main Menu, File, Get. 2. Select container-mm.mc9 from your working folder and choose Open. Note: If you did not complete Chapter 8, open container- backup-mm.mc9. 3. Press [Alt+S] to turn on shading. 4. Press [Alt+E] to access the Hide function. 5. Select the light blue solid (mold core) and choose Done. Only the mold core remains in the graphics window. 6. Press [Alt+2] to open the Level Manager. 7. In the Main Level section of the dialog box, enter 6 for Number and Electrode for Name. 8. Make level 4 visible and levels 1, 2, 3, and 5 invisible. 9. Choose OK to close the dialog box. Designing an Electrode Mastercam Version 9 Solids Tutorial 253 Exercise 2 – Reducing the size of the Y-shaped cavity In this exercise, you will reduce the size of the Y-shaped cavity. Doing so makes the electrode smaller, which compensates for the overburn (spark gap) between the electrode and the mold. Before you do so, however, you will define a new construction view at the bottom of the sheet solid. Defining a new construction view You will use the View Manager to define a new view based on the geometry of a flat solid face at the bottom of the sheet solid. You will reverse the Z direction of the Bottom view and set this view as the current WCS (work coordinate system). If you left the part in the original WCS, it would not be shown in the view that it is being machined in. 1. Dynamically rotate the solid so that the mold core geometry points upward. 2. Press [Alt+F1] to fit the geometry to the screen. 3. Turn off shading. 4. Choose WCS from the Secondary Menu. The View Manager opens. 5. Right-click in the View list section of the dialog box and choose Create, Select menu. The View Manager closes. 6. Choose Entity from the Create View menu. 7. Choose Solid face from the Entity menu. The Pick Solid Entity menu displays. 8. Toggle Faces to Y and all other Yes/No options to N. 9. Select the face shown in the following picture. Chapter 9 254 Mastercam Version 9 Solids Tutorial 10. Mastercam displays an axes marker on the solid. Choose Next from the Select Plane menu until the Z axis points up, as shown in the following picture. 11. When the Z axis points upward, choose Save. The View Manager reopens. 12. Mastercam recognizes the selected view as one of the pre-defined views and displays the number 4 (for Bottom view) in the V# column. Enter Bottom for Name. 13. Click in the WCS column for the Bottom view to set this view as the current view. Designing an Electrode Mastercam Version 9 Solids Tutorial 255 14. Choose OK. The WCS button reflects the number of the current view (n4), and the Z depth button reflects the depth (22.86) of the selected face. Thickening the sheet solid You will thicken the sheet solid by 0.3 millimeters. The added material will reduce the size of the Y-shaped cavity. 1. Choose Main Menu, Solids, Next menu, Thicken. The Thicken Sheet Solid dialog box opens. 2. Enter 0.3 for Thickness. Chapter 9 256 Mastercam Version 9 Solids Tutorial 3. Choose OK. A direction arrow displays on the sheet solid, which indicates the side to be thickened. 4. Make sure the arrow points upward. If it does not, choose Flip. 5. When the arrow points in the correct direction, choose OK to thicken the sheet solid. This process will take several seconds. Once it is complete, the sheet solid becomes a closed solid body. Notice that the cavity of the standoff is smaller now than it was previously. 6. Save the file. Designing an Electrode Mastercam Version 9 Solids Tutorial 257 Exercise 3 – Creating the electrode blank In this exercise, you will create the electrode blank, which is the block of material from which the electrode is formed. Defining the shape of the electrode blank You will create multiple lines connected at their endpoints. The lines will form a closed boundary that will define the shape of the electrode blank. 1. Right-click in the graphics window and choose Top. The bottom of the mold core points upward. Note: You reversed the Z direction for the Bottom view in Exercise 2. Therefore, the Top view is really the Bottom view. 2. Zoom in on the Y-shaped standoff in the center of the part. Your part should look like the following picture. 3. Choose Z from the Secondary Menu. 4. Type 38 for the construction depth. As you type, the value displays in the prompt area. 5. Press [Enter]. The Z button reflects the new depth. 6. Choose Color from the Secondary Menu. Chapter 9 258 Mastercam Version 9 Solids Tutorial 7. On the Color dialog box, set Current color to 12 (red), then choose OK. 8. Choose the Create-Line toolbar button. The Line menu displays. 9. Choose Multi from the Line menu. The Point Entry menu displays. 10. Enter (sketch) points to create lines around the Y-shaped standoff, as shown in the following picture. Make sure that the last line that you sketch ends where the first line begins to form a closed chain. Note: In the picture, the lines have been thickened to show you the intended result. 11. After sketching all of the lines, choose Backup to exit the function. Creating the electrode blank You will extrude the shape defined by the red lines to form a 60 millimeter solid for the electrode blank. 1. Switch to Isometric view and fit the part to the screen by zooming in on the entire part. 2. Choose Main Menu, Solids, Extrude. 3. Select anywhere on the red lines that you just created, then choose Done. Designing an Electrode Mastercam Version 9 Solids Tutorial 259 4. Make sure the extrusion direction arrow points down. If it does not, choose Reverse It. Tip: Rotate the part slightly if you have trouble seeing the arrow. 5. Choose Done. The Extrude Chain dialog box opens. 6. Enter Electrode for the operation name. 7. Select Extend by specified distance and enter 60 for Distance. 8. Check your settings against the following picture. Make any necessary adjustments. 9. Choose OK to create the electrode blank. 10. Turn on shading. Your part should look like the following picture. Chapter 9 260 Mastercam Version 9 Solids Tutorial Cutting the shape of the electrode The final step in creating the electrode is to cut the Y-shape of the cavity in the electrode blank. You will do so by removing the volume of the thickened solid, which contains the Y-shaped cavity, from the electrode blank. 1. Set the graphics view to Front. Your part should look like the following picture. Notice that the thickened solid (green) completely intersects the electrode blank solid (red). 2. Choose Boolean from the Solids menu. 3. Choose Remove from the Boolean menu. The Pick Solid Entity menu displays. 4. Toggle Solids to Y and all other Yes/No options to N. 5. Select the red solid (electrode) as the target solid. 6. Select the green solid as the tool body, then choose Done. [...]... screen Your part should look similar to the following picture Mastercam Version 9 Solids Tutorial 261 Chapter 9 15 Save the file Extend the electrode The final step in creating the electrode is to extend the Y-shape of the part so the electrode will not make contact with the floor of the mold Since you are only burning the Y-shape, you must make sure there is sufficient clearance between the non-burning... 262 Mastercam Version 9 Solids Tutorial Designing an Electrode 9 Mastercam displays an axes marker on the solid Choose Save from the Select Plane menu The View Manager reopens 10 Mastercam recognizes the selected view as a new view and displays the number 1 in the V# column Enter Standoff for Name 11 Click in the WCS column for the Standoff view to set this view as the current view Mastercam Version 9. .. check box 4 Enter 12 for Distance 5 Check your settings against the following picture Make any necessary adjustments Mastercam Version 9 Solids Tutorial 265 Chapter 9 6 Choose OK to cut the electrode Your part should look like the following picture 7 Save the file 266 Mastercam Version 9 Solids Tutorial ... Done, Do it to create the edge curves 6 Choose Main Menu, Create, Rectangle, 2 points 7 Draw a rectangle around the entire part, as shown in the following picture 8 Right-click in the graphics window and choose Isometric 264 Mastercam Version 9 Solids Tutorial Designing an Electrode 9 Choose Main Menu, Solids, Extrude, Chain 10 Select the two blue chains shown in the following picture and choose Done... between the non-burning area of the electrode and the mold You will cut the part and apply a draft to the sides 1 Choose Color from the Secondary Menu 2 On the Color dialog box, set Current color to 9 (blue), then choose OK 3 Choose WCS from the Secondary Menu to change the work coordinate system The View Manager opens 4 Right-click in the View list section of the dialog box and choose Create, Select... column for the Standoff view to set this view as the current view Mastercam Version 9 Solids Tutorial 263 Chapter 9 12 Choose OK The WCS button reflects the number of the current view (nT), and the Z depth button reflects the depth (-3 .475) of the selected face Create the edge curves 1 Right-click in the graphics window and choose Top 2 Choose Main Menu, Create, Curve, All edges, Solids 3 Toggle Faces... body completely intersects the target, the result of the operation is a disjoint body, meaning that the electrode is cut into two pieces Mastercam is unable to create disjoint bodies and maintain associativity between them However, you have the option to create non-associative bodies (bricks) from the two pieces of the electrode To do so, choose Yes 8 On the Keep menu, toggle Target to N and Tools to... deleted 9 Choose Done The electrode is split into two bricks (solids with no operation history) and the green tool body remains in the graphics window 10 Press [Alt+E] to access the Hide function 11 Select the top piece of the electrode, as shown in the following picture 12 Choose Done Only the top piece of the electrode remains visible in the graphics window 13 Rotate the electrode to view the Y-shaped . to Y and all other Yes/No options to N. 9. Select the face shown in the following picture. Chapter 9 254 Mastercam Version 9 Solids Tutorial 10. Mastercam displays an axes marker on the. Chapter 9 258 Mastercam Version 9 Solids Tutorial 7. On the Color dialog box, set Current color to 12 (red), then choose OK. 8. Choose the Create-Line toolbar button. The Line menu displays. 9. . necessary adjustments. 9. Choose OK to create the electrode blank. 10. Turn on shading. Your part should look like the following picture. Chapter 9 260 Mastercam Version 9 Solids Tutorial