Adelaide Pattern cuts production time by 40% with WorkNC Auto 5

For the past 17 years, Adelaide Pattern Tooling & Design in Australia has been producing patterns for the foundry industry. These are used to produce cast iron parts for rail systems and the automotive industry, including components such as exhaust manifolds, brake assemblies and rail shoulders.

<< We dont use any EDM tools now. Previously we would have used 10 or 20 electrodes on each pattern. This has resulted in a 40% time saving. >>
Drazen Vincekovic, CAD Manager, Adelaide Pattern Tooling & Design

Seven years ago, the company migrated to CNC from hand patternmaking techniques, using 3-axis machines and a 5-axis Deckel Maho DMU 80T in 3-axis and 3+2 axis modes. However, the purchase of a Deckel Maho DMC105V Linear to provide extra capacity demanded the use of 5- axis continuous toolpaths to optimise the productivity of the machine.

Adelaide Patterns existing CAM system was adequate for 3-axis toolpaths, so a replacement which would give them 5-axis machining as well had to be at least as good for 3-axis machining. The company evaluated WorkNC from CIM Solutions, Sescois Australian reseller. Drazen Vincekovic CAD Manager for Adelaide Pattern said, We carried out a series of cutting trials to check ease of use, the function of tool and holder collision avoidance, the interface to our ProE and Think3 CAD systems, and the quality of the technical support. The superiority of WorkNC was clear, giving us the confidence to select it as our preferred system. The company recognised the benefits of 5-axis machining which has enabled it to machine the steel or aluminium pattern directly, and eliminate the use of electrodes which makes a considerable cost saving.

The company has sufficient capacity to manufacture patterns up to750mm x 650mm. These can comprise one part or as many as 20 smaller parts with runners and feeders all in one pattern. Designed mainly for use with the Disamatic vertical moulding machine they require a high quality finish.

Drazen Vincekovic explained the use of WorkNC Auto 5, which automatically changes 3-axis toolpaths into 5-axis. Generally, we start with a 40mm face cutter and High Torque Roughing, then we rerough with a 16mm tipped cutter and a 10mm carbide, working our way down to 1mm with WorkNCs Contour Re-machining and Parallel Pencil Trace operations. We run all the toolpaths through Auto 5, which allows us to pick out walls 70-80mm high using the shortest possible cutters, tipping the tool in 5-axis to reach otherwise inaccessible areas of the job. We dont use any EDM tools now. Previously we would have used 10 or 20 electrodes on each pattern. This has resulted in a 40% time saving. To ensure the pattern can be completely finished on the 5-axis machining centre, WorkNC defines areas which cannot be cut with the current tool and calculates the new minimum tool length required to reach all parts of the job.

The design of foundry patterns requires particular attention to draft angles. Faces can start at 1 and finish at 15 and the part can have narrow gaps between walls in some areas and wide gaps in others, with sharp direction changes. Drazen Vincekovic said, WorkNCs Parallel Pencil Trace path is particularly good at removing sharp corners left by the direction changes. We also find the analysis functions in WorkNC-CAD very useful when checking draft angles. We can visualise how they are changing, and check that they will be sufficient for the foundry to reliably demould the sand castings - very important when volumes of 1 million are common.

Programming in 5-axis with Auto 5 is easier than programming in 3+2 and is a very important feature for Adelaide Pattern. Drazen Vincekovic said, We can achieve better quality and a quicker turnaround which, we anticipate, will result in more work, as well as opportunities in other markets such as aerospace. For example a 300mm square x 100mm pattern which requires 50-70% of the material removed can be ordered on Friday and delivered on Monday.

The reliability of WorkNCs toolpaths has contributed to the success. Drazen Vincekovic concluded, We have confidence in WorkNC. We leave the machine running unmanned overnight and at weekends for periods of 15 to 20 hours. It has been the right choice for us, enabling us to produce patterns which we would have previously struggled to manufacture.