Comprehensive CAD Program

May 17, 2015

Ryan Gehm

Delcam will launch in May the 2015 R2 version of its PowerSHAPE Pro software, which includes new options for reverse engineering as well as improvements to speed up and simplify the editing of product designs to make them more suitable for manufacture. The software offers a combination of solid, surface, and direct modeling, together with reverse engineering, to provide a range of design techniques in a single CAD program. PowerSHAPE Pro can connect directly to most scanning hardware to capture and display scan data in real time. The 2015 R2 version includes a new split-screen alignment option that makes it quicker and easier to combine multiple scans, taken, for example, from the opposite sides of a part. The new method also allows more accurate snapping of alignment points. PowerSHAPE Pro can be used to take cross-sections through the scan data to generate wireframe for the generation of surfaces. The wireframe can be simplified automatically into lines and arcs, reducing the number of points needed to describe the item and giving more precise geometry for the re-engineering of the model. Another new option is the ability to morph a complete solid or surface model to a mesh. This can be used to compensate for spring-back when pressed parts are released from their tooling. Morphing can be used to update a nominal CAD model to match the part as it is made in reality or to modify the surfaces of the tool so that the part can be produced in the desired shape represented by the CAD model. On the modeling side, analysis of models has been made easier as the Smart Feature Selector now displays the type and parameters of each feature interactively as the cursor is moved around the model.