Planar Profile Ramping On Walls – NX CAM

In this NX CAM presentation in Fixed-axis Milling, I will discuss a hidden Floor_Wall path operation that you may have overlooked. This path is located in Cut Pattern selection: Profile. I’ll start by reviewing a normal path with the default Cut Depth “Levels.” Then we’ll discuss the new options “Ramp by Depth” and “Ramp by Angle”.

Review

First, let’s begin by reviewing a normal floor and wall path. After generating, open and edit the dialogue to 3D verify on it. This part is being cut all the way through so the slug in the middle is intended to be removed. When rolling the view a little further, you can see that it was indeed cut through. Notice, as you look at the path, that all of the individual engage moves that it made are going down on the wall. That’s what we’ll look at changing in the the new option.

In NX 11, there is a brand new setting the area of levels. Both Ramp by Depth and Ramp By Angle will give you a helical motion cutting down the wall, without multiple engages. Note that these are only available in the profile option.

Ramp by Depth

We’ll start by trying Ramp by Depth. Specify the depth per cut. Then generate it with that simple change. You can already see that there is now only one engage and it’s spiraling along the wall.

Whether it does a finished floor pass or not is controlled in the cutting moves. If you go to your cutting parameters, look at the new Profile Ramping section. This section allows you to add a Cleanup Pass.

If Cleanup Pass is left unchecked, you can see the discrepancy in that the floor hasn’t been cleaned up. Instead, it cuts all the way down to the point of breaking out and then stops the cut. The maximum material that would be left here is our depth of cut or depth per cut.

If you add a Cleanup Pass, most of the path will look the same. However, there will be an extra path around the bottom due to the Cleanup Pass. This will be more visible if you do a verify. It is now cut all the way through, allowing the slug of material to fall out.

Ramp by Angle

The other choice you have is Ramp by Angle. In this, you are not going to give it a specific depth. You’ll instead tell it the sloping or ramping angle that you want to use. You can see that it gives you virtually the same motion, but is focused on the angle rather than depth.