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Professional CAD/CAM tools built on Inventor and AutoCAD
Integrated BIM tools, including Revit, AutoCAD, and Civil 3D
Professional CAD/CAM tools built on Inventor and AutoCAD
Reviewing enhanced options used to set a tool's orientation, a useful technique in cases where part does not have flat surfaces to reference when setting the tool orientation.
Type:
Tutorial
Length:
3 min.
Tutorial resources
These downloadable resources will be used to complete this tutorial:
Transcript
00:03
When machining complex parts,
00:05
you may encounter features that are inaccessible to the machine tool,
00:08
due to the current tool access orientation.
00:12
These accessibility features can be highlighted using Accessibility Analysis.
00:17
The Accessibility Analysis tool colors a body based on whether or not certain areas are accessible from a particular plane.
00:25
Regions that are accessible are highlighted green,
00:28
and inaccessible regions are highlighted red.
00:32
To use the accessibility highlighting, from Manufacturing workspace toolbar,
00:36
Milling tab, expand Inspect and select Accessibility Analysis.
00:41
Select the part you are manufacturing and then specify the current direction of your tool orientation.
00:49
In this example, the area under the rib is shaded in red,
00:52
highlighting the regions that are not accessible.
00:56
Change the machining direction to update the accessibility analysis and show the regions that are not accessible from this new orientation.
01:04
To machine these areas, you need to change the tool orientation.
01:09
Edit the Last Adaptive process,
01:11
in the dialog, select the Multi-Axis tab in the Toolpath setup
01:16
and orient the tool direction by selecting model-based geometry features,
01:20
such as faces, edges, or cylindrical surfaces.
01:24
In the Tool Orientation group, there are enhanced options to help orient the tool axis:
01:29
Use surface normals to control the tool axis.
01:34
By selecting the surface normal and either the X or Y axis from the drop-down,
01:38
you can define the Z-axis of the tool as normal to any point along a part surface.
01:44
This is useful when defining the tool axis on complex shapes that have doubly curved surfaces
01:49
or parts with no flat surfaces.
01:52
When the pointer is moved along the surface, a live representation of the tool Z-axis is shown to help in choosing a suitable position.
02:00
Dynamic drag handles can then also be rotated to modify the turn and tilt relative to the selected point.
02:07
The surface normal selected is associative to the part,
02:11
so if the surface is modified in the design workspace,
02:14
the tool axis will automatically update when the tool path is recalculated.
02:19
Another useful function inside the Tool Orientation options is Align to View.
02:25
You can quickly align the Z-axis of the tool to be normal to the current view by adjusting the Turn and Tilt values automatically, if needed.
02:34
These values can be changed by using the dynamic drag handles,
02:38
or by entering the values directly.
Video transcript
00:03
When machining complex parts,
00:05
you may encounter features that are inaccessible to the machine tool,
00:08
due to the current tool access orientation.
00:12
These accessibility features can be highlighted using Accessibility Analysis.
00:17
The Accessibility Analysis tool colors a body based on whether or not certain areas are accessible from a particular plane.
00:25
Regions that are accessible are highlighted green,
00:28
and inaccessible regions are highlighted red.
00:32
To use the accessibility highlighting, from Manufacturing workspace toolbar,
00:36
Milling tab, expand Inspect and select Accessibility Analysis.
00:41
Select the part you are manufacturing and then specify the current direction of your tool orientation.
00:49
In this example, the area under the rib is shaded in red,
00:52
highlighting the regions that are not accessible.
00:56
Change the machining direction to update the accessibility analysis and show the regions that are not accessible from this new orientation.
01:04
To machine these areas, you need to change the tool orientation.
01:09
Edit the Last Adaptive process,
01:11
in the dialog, select the Multi-Axis tab in the Toolpath setup
01:16
and orient the tool direction by selecting model-based geometry features,
01:20
such as faces, edges, or cylindrical surfaces.
01:24
In the Tool Orientation group, there are enhanced options to help orient the tool axis:
01:29
Use surface normals to control the tool axis.
01:34
By selecting the surface normal and either the X or Y axis from the drop-down,
01:38
you can define the Z-axis of the tool as normal to any point along a part surface.
01:44
This is useful when defining the tool axis on complex shapes that have doubly curved surfaces
01:49
or parts with no flat surfaces.
01:52
When the pointer is moved along the surface, a live representation of the tool Z-axis is shown to help in choosing a suitable position.
02:00
Dynamic drag handles can then also be rotated to modify the turn and tilt relative to the selected point.
02:07
The surface normal selected is associative to the part,
02:11
so if the surface is modified in the design workspace,
02:14
the tool axis will automatically update when the tool path is recalculated.
02:19
Another useful function inside the Tool Orientation options is Align to View.
02:25
You can quickly align the Z-axis of the tool to be normal to the current view by adjusting the Turn and Tilt values automatically, if needed.
02:34
These values can be changed by using the dynamic drag handles,
02:38
or by entering the values directly.
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