What's new in PowerMill 2023

The new features and enhancements added since PowerMill 2022.1.1.

For information about fixed issues, see the release notes.

Steep and Shallow Finishing improvements

• You can now optimise machining of open pockets for better surface finishes when using 3D Offset as the shallow strategy in Steep and Shallow Finishing.

Speed improvements

There are general speed improvements to help reduce programming time:

• Applying Collision Avoidance has been made faster, especially when using the Automatic method.
• The time to calculate Curve Projection Finishing toolpaths has been reduced.
• The turning spun profile calculates more rapidly.
• The time to open and save projects that include collision-checked toolpaths has been reduced.

Enhanced setups

• Workplane behaviour has been improved to enhance your programming workflow:
  • When a setup is active, its workplane is now automatically activated as well.
  • When you create a toolpath in a setup, the setup’s workplane is no longer automatically activated for the toolpath. Instead, by default, the toolpath now uses the current active workplane.
  • When creating an NC Program from a setup, the setup’s workplane is now automatically activated as the Output Workplane.
• The ability to select a machine tool and model location can now be added for each setup. These selections are then inherited in other areas, such as toolpaths, simulation, and NC Programs, automating the previous manual selection process.

• When a setup is activated, its assigned thicknesses become the default thicknesses. New toolpaths then pick up the default thickness settings. The toolpaths' thicknesses can then be modified if required.

Safer leads and links

• You can now choose to automatically trim the ends of segments so that leads and links can be added for safer machining.
• When machining undercuts, lead moves are automatically extended from beneath overhanging surfaces.

Automatic collision avoidance

• Improvements have been made to ensure the Automatic method of Collision Avoidance tilts the tool more consistently across neighbouring passes.
• When using the Automatic method of Collision Avoidance with toolpaths that use two-way cutting, there is now more consistency in the tilting of the tool on successive passes.

Additive

• In PowerMill Additive, you can now combine two or more additive toolpaths to create a single additive toolpath. By combining toolpaths, deposition segments within the same layer-band (index) are grouped.

Rest Finishing strategy (preview)

• In PowerMill 2022.1, a new finishing strategy was added for machining areas, such as corners, which have remaining stock left over by previous operations. In PowerMill 2023, the strategy, while still in preview, has been improved. It now produces toolpaths more reliably that cover the full extent of the rest material with smoother passes of improved quality.

Other enhancements

• PowerMill now uses the new Autodesk brand logo, colours, and imagery.
• To help identify flat surfaces at any angle in the model, two new commands are available. In the Command Window, type:
  • EDIT MODEL model_name SELECT INCLINED_FLAT max_inclination min_inclination

    Where model_name is the name of the model to be considered; type ALL to consider all models. And max_inclination and min_inclination are optional numeric arguments to the command, specifying the maximum and minimum inclination of the selected planar surfaces.

    The command selects all flat surfaces on the specified model inclined between the two specified angles, as measured from the current workplane. If max_inclination and min_inclination are not specified, they default to 90 and 0 respectively.

  • CREATE WORKPLANES workplane_basename INCLINED_FLAT max_inclination min_inclination

    Where workplane_basename is the prefix that gets added to all created workplanes. And max_inclination and min_inclination are optional numeric arguments to the command, specifying the maximum and minimum inclination of the selected planar surfaces.

    The command creates workplanes for all the flat surfaces of the model inclined between the two specified angles. If max_inclination and min_inclination are not specified, they default to 90 and 0 respectively.