Verification
More and more often, programs for NC machines are generated automatically or by means of off-line programming solutions. Such programs need to be checked for correctness, collisions and reachability constraints.
Performance
Analysis of machine program performance often reveals considerable potential for improvement. A simulation based on high-accuracy controller emulation reveals whether dynamic machine limits are reached how bottlenecks can be avoided.
Planning
Machine vendors, system integrators and factory planners can use VZM to evaluate the benefit of different machine kinematics, jigs and fixtures for a production facility during planning and development.
Demonstration
High-Performance Collision Detection
Collision checks can be run for either one single or a large number of programs at once, without any need for user intervention. Results are displayed by highlighting the colliding parts or can be exported to report files. A vectorized (SSE, AVX) multi-core implementation makes full use of modern CPUs such that finely resolved, very long programs and complex machine models can handled efficiently. The collision detection algorithm can be configured to require a minimum distance between parts instead of hard collisions, exclude some parts from testing, and to optionally stop at the first collision for increased efficiency in NC program validation.
Precision Performance Analysis
Interfacing with a high-quality controller emulator such as the Siemens Virtual NC Kernel (VNCK, xMVM) enables the collection of very accurate, detailed program timing data. Graphical representations of performance limitations can then be used to detect slow NC code paths and improve the performance of existing machines.
Composite Layup Simulation
The process of composite material deposition by Automated Fiber Placement (AFP) machines can be simulated as well. Gaps in the layup become immediately visible and errors in machine program generation are detected quickly. Statistics computed based the geometry of the deposited laminate provide insight in how AFP machine productivity can be improved. Optionally, empirical information on production process interruptions (such as AFP cutter cleaning) can be entered for more realistic, material-dependent productivity estimates.
Open Architecture
Machine and workpiece geometry can be imported from files in STL or 3DXML format. Such files contain tessellated geometry and can often be accessed directly from machine manufacturer websites or generated by any CAD software. Hole and fastener data can be loaded from IGES or plain text files for maximum flexibility. Engineering data such as reference curves or composite layup information, tow masks and trimming geometry can additionally be imported from IGES or other open formats. Export functions exist for a large variety of relevant quantities and all file formats used by VZM are accessible by machine vendors and system users.
Exotic Kinematic Chains
Almost any type of kinematic system, both serial and parallel chains, can be set up with the kinematic assembly module. For many specialized systems such as tripods or C-frame riveting machines, pre-defined dialogs are available, while a very general spline-based interpolation approach can be employed to model innovative systems that cannot be modelled at all by some other simulation systems. As an example, VZM was used to generate development-stage drilling programs for a crawler device that is moving along a doubly-curved surface, at very competitive cost.
