Advanced surfacing speeds, critical design functions

Modern Machine Shop, Feb, 2002 by Elizabeth M. Gruber

The company announces increased surfacing functionality of its VX Overdrive CAD/CAM software, including surface creation tools for designing difficult shapes that can also incorporate curvature-continuous Class A surfaces.

A new capability provides very fine control over the shape of a complex lofted surface, letting the user determine how much influence various interior curves exert on the final surface and thus improving manufacturability as well as attractiveness. With this capability, deformities such as unwanted creases and channels are immediately visible as the surface is rotated and can be easily corrected. Two surface analysis tools help users visually identify other potential trouble spots. The finite element mesh tool operates analogously to the isophote "black light" analysis used for examining full-scale clay models. The other tool examines the smoothness of the transition between adjacent surfaces by comparing local tangency. The maximum and average angular change is displayed along with a set of curves for graphical feedback along the shared edge.

Among the new surface creation functions is more robust handling of exceptionally complex surfaces. With the additional intelligence in the surfacing functions, a single command can interpolate a fillet surface through three curves, tangent to three surfaces, or a combination of three curves and surfaces.

The variational sweep function has been enhanced so that profile sweeping continuously resolves all of the varying profiles along the swept path. The surface that results from the sweep can be constrained by changes in external geometry that influence the shape or through a set of equations that guide the sweep.