CAD Software Eases Copying of Features Between Multiple Solids

Delcam has added a series of enhancements to its PowerShape Pro software for modeling and reverse engineering to help users to complete complex designs more quickly and easily. By offering a combination of solid, surface and direct modeling, together with reverse engineering, PowerShape Pro provides a comprehensive range of design techniques available in a single CAD program. Having these various technologies in the same package reduces the need to transfer data between multiple programs and so streamlines any modeling-for-manufacture projects that require both reverse engineering and CAD functionality.

The first enhancement in the 2016 release enables copying groups of features between two solids in a single operation. While the features do not need to be of the same type, the most common application is expected to be in copying patterns of holes with a single click from one solid to another, such as from one mold plate to any other plate in the mold stack. Another option to save modeling time is the ability to edit the axis direction of any number of surface or solid primitives simultaneously. Similarly, the axis direction of a group of primitives that are not aligned can be brought into alignment in one operation.

For customers using the software to capture data for reverse engineering, PowerShape Pro can connect directly to most scanning hardware to capture and display scan data in real time. The 2016 releasemakes it easier to switch between measuring modes when using devices that offer data collection by both laser scanning and point probing. Reverse engineering has been simplified for prismatic parts with the new ability to identify planes, cylinders, cones and other primitives, or to create wireframe arcs and lines directly from probed points. This approach can be more accurate than using scan data to create prismatic areas of a model, the company says.