iMachining technology

SolidCAM's iMachining™ is an intelligent high speed milling technology, designed to produce fast and safe CNC programs to machine your mechanical parts with first part success performance. The word fast meaning significantly faster than traditional machining at its best and the word safe meaning without the risk of breaking tools or subjecting the machine to excessive wear, all while maximizing tool life.

To achieve these goals, the iMachining technology uses advanced, patented algorithms to generate smooth tangent tool paths, coupled with matching conditions, that together keep the mechanical and thermal load on the tool constant, while cutting thin chips at high cutting speeds and deeper than standard cuts (up to 4 times diameter). Below are the two distinctive iMachining features that make the technology unique.

iMachining tool paths

iMachining generates morphing spiral tool paths, which spiral either outwardly from some central point of a walled area, gradually adopting the form of and nearing the contour of the outside walls, or inwardly from an outside contour of an open area to some central point or inner contour of an island. In this way, iMachining manages to cut irregularly shaped areas with a single continuous spiral.

iMachining uses proprietary constant load one-way tool paths to machine narrow passages, separating channels and tight corners. In some open areas, where the shape is too irregular to completely remove with a single spiral, proprietary topology analysis algorithms and channels are used to subdivide the area into a few large irregularly shaped sub-areas and then machines each of them by a suitable morphing spiral, achieving over 80% of the volume being machined by spiral tool paths. Since spiral tool paths have between 50% and 100% higher Material Removal Rate (MRR) than one-way tool paths, and since iMachining has the only tool path in the industry that maintains a constant load on the tool, it achieves the highest MRR in the industry.

iMachining also performs an automatically optimized tool path when finishing 2.5D features. The finish tool path is executed in several consecutive steps with intelligent tool movements, all of which would be programming intensive and difficult to achieve using traditional machining methods. Because of its highly systematic approach to finishing and dedication to eliminate over engagement, the iMachining technology is able to further maximize the life of your tools.

iMachining 3D automatically optimizes the tool path by recalculating every depth of cut and providing for each one the appropriate engagement angle changes.

Although not shown in the Output Cutting Data, the Technology Wizard adjusts both the feed rate and cutting angle for each depth of cut. The smaller depths receive increased values by the exact amount required to maintain the specified constant load on the tool while, at the same time, resulting in shorter machining times for the higher steps.

The adjustments can be seen in the Simulation Data window in real-time when simulating the iMachining 3D tool path.

iMachining Technology Wizard

A significant part of the iMachining system is devoted to calculating synchronized values of feed rate, spindle speed, axial depth of cut, cutting angles and (undeformed) chip thickness based on the mechanical properties of the workpiece and tool while also keeping within the boundaries of the machine capabilities (maximum feeds and spindle speed, power and rigidity). The iMachining Technology Wizard, which is responsible for these calculations, provides the user with the means of selecting the level of machining aggressiveness most suitable to the specific machine and set up conditions and to their production requirements (quantity, schedule and tooling costs).

An additional critical task performed by the Technology Wizard is dynamically adjusting the feed to compensate for the dynamically varying cutting angle – a bi-product of the morphing spiral, thus achieving a constant load on the tool, which maximizes tool life.