Part workpiece clamping settings

Part workpiece clamping settings are available in the tab

Clamping of a part in a machine depends on numerous factors, original settings and restrictions. By changing the original settings, the user can affect the rating of clamping options performed by CAM solver.

There are two tabs used to configure clamping settings:

This tab is used to configure the general parameters necessary to create a clamping option.

Clamping new

The following parameters can be specified:

Clamped object	Setting the part status, in which it is clamped in the CNC machine for the purpose of processing. The available options are listed here.
Clamping corner	Setting the clamping corner in the machine. Click here for more information.
Workpiece orientation priority	Part workpiece can be oriented along its longer or shorter edge. This depends on the arrangement of the machine and agreements within the organization. This requirement is optional and is important when rating a clamping option in terms of “Requirement to place lengthwise along axis” criterion.
Invert priority	Sometime processing operations of the part has to be made by inverting the part. In such cases you need to indicate the priority of the axis which will be used for rotating the workpiece by inverting the part in order to continue its processing operations.
Clamping base default orientation	Allows choosing which plane normal of the View Cube will be used as a default vector for determining the base plane. Click here for more information about base plane.

When deciding on the orientation of a part in case of a specific clamping option, various requirements have to be taken into account and, sometimes, these requirements can be contradictory.

Cut and Dril conflict

For example, as shown in the figure above, grooving requirement conflicts with the request to drill holes, etc. CAM solver selects all the available clamping options. Each clamping option is rated based on the specified criteria and scored accordingly. Clamping option with highest score is used as a winning option. These criteria are shown in the criteria rating tab.

Before summing up, the score of each criterion is multiplied by a factor specified by the user. This allows the user to change the weight of the criteria and affect the operation of CAM solver. Currently, the following clamping criteria are rated:

Drill operation	Clamping options are rated depending on the number of processable holes. Higher score is given to options with higher number of processable holes.
Mill operation	Clamping options are rated depending on the number of processable loops. Higher score is given to options with higher number of processable loops.
Pock Operation	Clamping options are rated depending on the number of processable pockets. Higher score is given to options with higher number of processable pockets.
Cut operation	Clamping options are rated depending on the number of processable cuts. Higher score is given to options with higher number of processable cuts.
Base plane to Clamping Orientation	Clamping options are rated depending on whether the specified base plane of the part is supported against base supports. For more information about base plane search, click here.
Holes area by workpiece quarter	Clamping options are rated depending on the distance of holes from base supports. For more information about basing depending on the layout of holes, click here.
Requirement to place lengthwise along axis	Clamping options are rated depending on whether the part meets the requirement to place the part lengthwise along X or Y axis. Higher score is given to options that meet the above requirement.
Invert along <axis index> axis	Clamping options are rated depending on whether the part meets the requirement to invert the part along chosen axis. This rate is used only for the second clamping if it is necessary to make a full processing operations of the part.
Trespass of working area	Clamping options are rated depending on whether the clamped part trespasses the working area of the machine. Higher score is given to options where the part fits in the working area.

By changing the rating factor, the user can increase the weight of individual criteria necessary to rate clamping options. If the value of the factor is 0, the criterion will not be taken into account when calculating the score for a clamping option.

Important. CAM solver will always give priority to clamping options offering fewer processing operations avoiding operations where the external workpiece loop can be trespassed. This is to ensure that, once flipped over, the part has base surfaces and does not require procedures with special clamping. The reverse order applies to CNC Nesting machines. Here, priority is given to clamping options with the highest number of processing operations, including the processing of the external loop.