Also automate more complex cutting work

One of the advantages of plasma cutting is the ability to cut bevels on a workpiece. So-called bevel cutting or beveling is often used to prepare welds perfectly. Those who want to tackle this automatically will find that there is a gap between theory and practice, because so many variables must be taken into account in the control. With his CAM software CAM2000, however, Vandenbussche succeeds in closing that gap for many applications and making automatic bevel cutting a reality. Also in a recent project for Astratec and ArcelorMittal.

Metal processors want to go further and further in automation. Reading in step-files and automatically generating the machining program from all the information in the 3D drawing that allows the pieces to come off the machine right the first time. For a lot of applications this is already running well, but the last few percent are always the most difficult. Especially since the drawing is not always done according to the manufacturability of a piece. "A typical example is angled plasma cutting. But also in five-axis machining there are applications where theory and practice can be quite different," says Johan Vandenbussche, manager of Vandenbussche Software.

Comprehensive database in function of production resources

The angle, the offset, the height control, the cutting speed ... It takes a lot to have all these variables perfectly under control and to make an automated operation possible. But that is exactly what Vandenbussche Software does. The basis is the CAM package CAM2000, the implementation is customized in function of the production means. "Because the dimensions of the pieces are never perfect in practice, they must first be measured on the machine. All sides are scanned and the information is added to a database we created in function of the machine the customer has. In the next step, the software calculates how to cut. This takes into account all possible collision controls and the different passes."

Flexibility built in

CAM2000's strength is the experience woven into it. "Automated work, yes, but at the same time we give the customer every opportunity to intervene himself. Each step in the software was therefore built as flexibly as possible." It is no coincidence that Astratec has chosen Vandenbussche Software's CAM package on its machines for years. Also for this project for a plasma cutting machine for the ArcelorMittal site in Dunkirk. "All the complexity of bevel cutting and the intelligence required to achieve it is already present in the software. The operator then only has to select the piece (material, thickness) in question that is going to be on the plasma cutting machine from the database management module and the program can start." In October, Vandenbussche's team went to Dunkirk to provide training.

Making pieces manufacturable

For Vandenbussche Software, a typical project. "The major evolutions in automation of sheet metal working and machining processes are already behind us. Now it is in the details to bring even those complex projects to a successful conclusion. To nest even better, to cut even more complex elements ..." Much of the preparation time, for example, goes into unfolding the pieces in CAM2000. "If the drawing is not perfect, it is more difficult to work. We purge all the info from the drawing and other files that are there in order to unfold the pieces correctly and thus make them manufacturable. That's exactly where all our experience with CAM plays an important role. When one first has to go from a 2D to a 3D construction, errors are often generated," concludes the business manager. "That's why the evolution to step-files is so positive."