Enhanced capabilities in parametric strip design in the VISI Progress module and a range of new surface analysis tools are included in this latest release of mould and die orientated software.

CAD/CAM software specialist Vero International Software introduced release 10 of its VISI Series software solution at MACH 2002 exhibition, maintaining its strong focus on the mould and die sector but introducing a range of new and enhanced features. Among the new developments are enhanced capabilities in parametric strip design in the VISI Progress module, a range of new surface analysis tools, a new VISI-Manufacturing feature recognition module and VISI-Electrode software to assist with EDM manufacture, all of which will further VISI-Series' already considerable capabilities for mould and die design and manufacture. The VISI Progress has modules developed specifically for the design of the strip in progressive dies.

In this operation it is frequently necessary to change the configuration of the bending and shearing steps to arrive at the desired strip sequence for economical and practical manufacture.

As the design of a die strip progresses, VISI-Progress will give the designer information about shear stress and material utilisation.

As such, punches and positioning the forming stages to suit your component can be quickly designed and incorporated.

Simulation of the punching process ensures that the part is fully finished when it has passed through all the stages on the strip.

With the new parametric strip design in Version 10 of VISI-Series, the Progressive Die designer will be able to design the strip, evaluate the results, and then simply change one or more elements of the strip configuration to improve their design.

The remainder of the strip design is rebuilt automatically, ready to evaluate the results again.

Because rebuilding the strip design only takes minutes, this process can be repeated as many times as desired until the optimum strip design is achieved.

The new surface analysis tools in Version 10 are being introduced to make it easier to examine and analyse complex imported CAD data.

For very complex CAD models it is often very difficult to see potential problem areas for mould design, such as undercuts and insufficient draft.

With the new tools, draft surfaces are automatically shaded so the user can instantly see where faces have little or no draft or where there is an undercut.

When working with supplier CAD data, frequent design changes can cause many problems in the tool design, primarily because it is difficult to quickly find where the design has been changed.

Included in the new surface analysis tools is model comparison, so that when a model has been altered, it is easy to see where the changes have been made, making it much simpler to evaluate the impact on the tool design.

With Vero's new VISI-Manufacturing Feature Recognition parts which have been imported into VISI-Series or modelled in VISI-Series can be automatically machined with the new VISI-Manufacturing Feature Recognition.

The software will interrogate the part, and automatically find holes, pockets, profiles and open sided pockets.

Where attributes are attached to holes - automatically the case for parts designed with VISI-Mould or VISI-Progress - the system will pick out a sequence of tools and apply the correct sequence of operations and tools to produce the required quality of hole.

For example one sequence of operations might be centre drill, drill, bore and counterbore.

For pockets, open pockets, profiles, and face milling, VISI-Manufacturing Feature Recognition will automatically find the majority of the features and where features are not so easily identified or for holes without attributes allocated, the programmer can manually identify them to the system.

The user can also set up preferred tools, feeds/speeds and cutting methods for each type of feature to suit their own machining methods.

VISI-Manufacturing Feature Recognition creates a tree structure showing the parent/child relationship between the operations directly from the feature recognition process so that it is easy to see the sequence of operations.

With the preferred methods set up, VISI-Manufacturing Feature Recognition will automatically apply the desired toolpath to the model to achieve the quality of finish and accuracy necessary for the finished component.

To allow full control, the user is still able to edit individual methods, the toolpath and tooling from the tree structure of operations to cope with special cases, where the preset methods need to be modified for optimum results.

'VISI-Manufacturing Feature Recognition takes the hard work out of CNC programming of models and ensures that the finished part is completed quickly, consistently and to the right quality', explains Gerard O'Driscoll, development director of Vero International Software.

VISI-Electrode: VISI-Electrode is another new module launched by Vero International Software at Mach 2002.

VISI-Electrode works in the same environment as all the other VISI-Series modules and permits, in tool design and manufacture, the creation of detailed shapes in the tool which may need to be manufactured by EDM.

In the new VISI-Electrode module, the user simply sketches the outside profile for the electrode above the desired area on the model, then using dialogue boxes picks the height of the electrode and the proposed EDM technology.

Alternatively, the user may select the individual faces of the model which need to be cut by an EDM electrode.

VISI-Electrode instantly creates the electrode shape based on the geometry of the underlying solid model with the offsets on the shape to suit the EDM technology chosen.

Different EDM technologies require different sizes of electrode to allow for the spark gap and the movement of the electrode during the machining process.

From a library of holders the user chooses the holder to suit the electrode.

The electrode can be machined directly in VISI-Machining, and it is automatically referenced to a datum to make sure the electrode is applied in the correct position.

VISI-Electrode produces an electrode report detailing information such as the datum, spark gap and holder to keep track of the electrodes their manufacture and their use to help control the tool building process.

These new features are introduced as part of Vero's on-going development of VISI-Series.

The Stroud, Gloucestershire based company is firmly established as one of Europe's top five software vendors in mould and die and has also achieved significant growth in the sector in recent times in Thailand, China, Japan and North America.