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VERICUT User: ReedHycalog

ReedHycalog PDC Bit
ReedHycalog is a global designer, manufacturer and marketer of drill bit technology and expertise. Acquired by Grant Prideco from Schlumberger in December 2002, the company has developed many innovations for the industry covering the range from bearing design to proprietary manufacturing processes, as well as introducing onto the market the first polycrystalline diamond compact (PDC) drill bit. Today, PDC bits account for approximately half of the drill bits bought world-wide. The company manufactures its PDC and natural diamond drill bits in Gloucester-shire, in Houston, Texas, and in Las Morochas, Venezuela. ReedHycalog bits trace their history through two entities - Hycalog (an abbreviation for Hydrocarbon-logging) and Drilling & Service (D & S), which merged in 1983 to form the fixed cutter segment of the Reed-Hycalog organisation.
 
Precision
 
The precision work of manufacturing equipment for the oil equipment industry demands that the cutting process be as efficient as possible. To this end, it is imperative that machine crashes that could ruin the part, damage the fixture or break the cutting tool are avoided at all costs. Once upon a time, the only way to do this was through on-machine prove-outs. Now, however, ReedHycalog is employing simulation software designed by CGTech that eliminates the need for this risky physical testing of CNC machines.
 
CGTech’s VERICUT software removes this potentially hazardous stage by allowing ReedHycalog to do all of their prove-outs on a computer. Matthew Tolner, senior production engineer at ReedHycalog, explains how the company chose to use VERICUT technology: “Back in 1998, when VERICUT was chosen, 5 percent of production of steel drill bits were new prove-outs. Typically the prove-out times were taking twice the time of a proven job. Back then, the average cycle time for a proven job was 15 hours.
 
“If the CAM systems programs could be proven out in the office this would result in a shop floor saving of £24,000 per year (15 hours x £40 x 40 new prove-outs per year). CGTech’s VERICUT was initially chosen over other simulation software systems due to its superior optimisation, particularly its optimisation of five axis programs. The majority of our programs are for five axis-machining centers and are extremely complex.”
 
A distinct advantage of the VERICUT system is the way in which it cuts down CNC cycle times. “All new five axis and three axis G-Code programs are run through VERICUT to check for machine and tooling collisions, dimensional and time checks prior to being made available to the shop floor,” continues Tolner. “Currently this equates to approximately 150 programmes per year with an average cycle time of five hours. ReedHycalog had previously used the optimisation to remove fresh air passes but this is no longer done due to improvements within the CAM system.”
 
The use of CGTech’s technology has proven extremely successful. Since the Stonehouse site in Gloucestershire has been using VERICUT, two other ReedHycalog facilities in Houston (Gessner and JFK) have also started using the software. “Prove-out times are now no longer than proven job cycle times,” says Tolner, explaining the benefits of the technology. “On some of our multi-axis machining centres, the operator presence is only required at tool change operations just to double check correct tool loading. Collisions are now extremely rare resulting in reduced tooling costs. Scrap rates are very low (the Production Engineering Department has not had any scrap attributed to it for 16 months) and quality is up.” The effects of this are not just felt in the prove-out stage, as Tolner notes, “This all results in increased confidence in meeting the delivery matrix due to known manufacturing times.”
 
The VERICUT technology is the product of CGTech, a leading company in CNC machine simulation, verification, and optimisation software technology. Founded in 1988, the company supplies its products to a number of different manufacturing industry sectors including aerospace, automotive and ground transportation, mould and die, consumer products, power generation, and heavy industry.
 
Adaptability
 
A big advantage of VERICUT is its adapt-ability. It comes in a modular format, which means that clients only need to purchase the parts that they require. Additional modules can be purchased as required, and CGTech will provide a license that allows immediate access. The VERICUT program runs on both Windows and UNIX platforms, and is delivered as both a 32 bit and 64 bit application (compatible with Windows XP Professional x64).
 
ReedHycalog’s use of the VERICUT system marks further progress in the use of computer simulation prove-outs. This technology has made on-machine testing obsolete, with the result that companies in the oil industry can be more confident that their CNC machines will not crash, that cycle times will be shorter and that tool life will be increased. Simulation software makes the machining process far more efficient, cost-effective and precise.

 

Airbus is selling so well that the demand to increase build rate has never been higher. BAE Systems (Filton, UK) needed a simple way to improve throughput - it found the answer in VERICUT.
With VERICUT, engineers at Stellex Monitor modeled the Sidewinder and Spar Mill machines.
Tell Tool of Westfield, Mass., has integrated VERICUT CNC simulation software into its numerical control program prove-out process.
VERICUT enabled us to start ordinary production after a minimum of time. Since this product is new for Volvo Aero Norge and our company had never before had parts with similar machining complexity, it is difficult to estimate the amount of cost saving.
Before implementing VERICUT, the company experienced the usual time-consuming and expensive manufacturing problems related to NC program prove-outs such as scrap loss, broken tooling, and a danger of occasional machine crash.
Over the last two years, GE Aviation (formerly Aerostructures Hamble) has used Machine Simulation to speed the implementation of several new 5-axis machine tools.
VERICUT showed the NC programmers leftover or heavy stock." And the software detected a couple of places where the depth of cut was too large and tools were shanking out," said Collings. They then went back and corrected the errors in the tool path before
Dassault, Seclin initially purchased VERICUT in order to reduce the number of manual prove-outs using polystyrene material, which represented a significant expense in terms of time and money.
VERICUT enabled the designers and programmers see exactly what they were building as and in-process model in different stages of the machining cycle.
We utilized VERICUT to verify the CNC programs for cutting the tooling before they were sent to the machine control,
To protect their investment, they have been using VERICUT since 1996. They have two people to verify the accuracy of their G-code files.
"When we first started using OptiPath we concentrated on the feed rate option; now we use the constant chip thickness capability. With jobs up to 200 hours long, 50% saving is significant like having another machine tool."
The entire process took less than two hours and no manpower was required, whereas, creating the same pattern manually (the old way), would have taken one of our designers several days.
The verification process stays ahead of the actual machine position in the NC code being verified. Opera-tors can see errors before they occur.
The bottom line? Using VERICUT has made Supreme's existing machine tools more productive. Enthusiasm is up, delivery times have been reduced, and pricing is more competitive.delivery times have been reduced, and pricing is more competitive.
Using VERICUT to compare the electrode burn with the mold cavity ensures that we have all the correct clearances in the electrodes and that we have 100% clean-up." says Allen.
If I was using VERICUT at the time I would've caught the problem, and had a chance to fix it before it damaged the part.
Now I rarely see the potential crashes because the students find and correct them before I review the work. Catching those costly problems is a non-event now!
VERICUT can change speeds and feeds according to cutting conditions including difference in material and tooling. It is done automatically; the programmer does not have to make even one manual insert into the code."
Flying shrapnel from shattered cutting tools and components is avoided by using VERICUT to test student programs before they are run on NC machines.
The NC programmers at Ingersoll also rely on the simulation software to prevent mistakes when programming complex, five-axis parts.
After creating the NC programs in Mastercam, they began simulating the machining process in VERICUT by simulating the G-code data. There often can be a difference between the motion as programmed and the code after it's run through the post processor
After selecting VERICUT for third-party verification, each NC programmer attended two days of basic training where they experienced first-hand the type of results they could expect to achieve.
The program simulates milling, drilling, turning, wire EDM, and mill/turn machining operations using both G-codes and CAM output.
VERICUT provides simulation capabilities for the all the 3-5 axis and wire EDM parts, with focused control over the orientation of our 5-axis machine tool including the cutters used on that machine.
The inspection probe is created as a tool in VERICUT so the complete in- cycle gauging sequence is checked for collisions.
The bottom was machined first. This effort took about 24 hours from start to finish. By using VERICUT software from CGTech, Elliot was able to test the NC program for any problems before it was ever cut on the machine.
Cosworth Racing Integrates Walter TDM Tool Management into Manufacturing Systems
With data exported from NX, Vericut simulates the cutting process on the shop floor utilizing the machine G-code to detect any issues prior to NC Program release.
VERICUT software removes this potentially hazardous stage by allowing ReedHycalog to do all of their prove-outs on a computer.
VERICUT verification detects errors such as: inaccurate programming, incorrect tool path motions, rapid motion contact, collisions with fixtures and clamps, tool shank and holder collisions, & CAD/CAM and post processor bugs.
VERICUT Machine Simulation supports G-codes and Multi-axis (5-axis or more) support for milling, drilling, turning, grinding & EDM machines

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