TOOLPATH ENGINE FOR 2-AXIS AND 3-AXIS MILLING

Celeritive Technologies, Inc. (Cave Creek, AZ), an independent, third-party developer of innovative high-speed machining technologies that increase machine shop productivity, announces release 3.0 of its VoluMill? toolpath software. VoluMill is a new genre, easy-to-use, single-algorithm, ultra-high-performance toolpath engine that dramatically reduces programming and cutting time while substantially increasing the life of cutting tools. VoluMill 3.0 extends these revolutionary capabilities to all three-axis applications, such as mold and die machining.

"We are excited to provide the proven benefits of VoluMill to a new audience," says Lawrence Lynott, Celeritive's vice president of sales. "Our two-axis customers have reported 30-percent reductions in programming time and up to 70-percent improvements in cycle time while more than doubling their tool life, cutting everything from aluminum to titanium to hardened toolsteel to nickel-based alloys. With the new applications for VoluMill 3.0, we expect many more shops to realize these powerful benefits."

Both VoluMill two-axis and VoluMill three-axis utilize existing CAD/CAM functionality for geometry and input/output functions, allowing customers to continue using their CAM system of choice. They dynamically manage cutting strategies, feed rate and depth of cut, and minimize force and heat buildup in both the part and the tool by maintaining the programmed material removal rate.

Customers using early versions of VoluMill 3.0 report 85 percent improvements in programming time, and cycle time reductions between 28 percent and 66 percent when cutting aluminum and 80 percent when machining exotics like Inconel and Waspaloy.

Improvements in VoluMill 3.0 include complete three-axis roughing, which handles all types of parts, including cavities, cores and anything in between; three-axis rest roughing, including Inline Restmill?, which uses a single tool for roughing and rest roughing to prepare a part for finishing; and advanced options for two-axis VoluMill, including support for tapered walls, island height cleanup and regionalized pocketing.

Revolutionary features of previous versions of VoluMill that carry over include a controlled material removal rate, which allows the safe use of much higher feeds and speeds; automatic support of different cutting styles, from HSM-style light axial to light-radial/deep-axial and anything in between; and multi-processor support for faster computation.

Other features include:
? FastPath? cutting strategy assures shortest cycle time possible for any part geometry.
? CoolCut? technology ensures that the heat is dissipated with the chips, leaving the part and the cutting tool cool.
? SmartRamp? material entry, which strategically opens up areas of the material for high-speed transitions between passes

As with previous versions of VoluMill, VoluMill 3.0 is "CAM neutral" so it can be used with any CAM system. Celeritive Technologies was founded to develop and market advanced productivity-improving CAD/CAM technologies. VoluMill? offers a new genre in high-performance toolpath engines that significantly increases machining
productivity and product quality.

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www.volumill.com