Graphic art
CNC program motions can cause expensive damage, so simulating a job in the computer before it gets anywhere near the shop floor makes good sense. Charles Clarke explains.
Before using an expensive machine tool to cut a costly piece of stock material, it is reassuring to know that the motions of the CNC program are not going to cause unexpected or severe damage to either.
This reassurance can be gained by simulating the whole process graphically in the computer before the job gets anywhere near the shop floor. Generally the simulation should be able to depict the actual tool configuration limits and constraints and its full motions.
The simulation should also be controlled by the same mathematical output that the post-processor uses to generate the machine tool motions. But this is not the case in many instances where the simulations are produced from within the same software that is used to generate the CNC part programs.
It's a bit like a trade or professional body investigating itself — the simulations are interesting, but unless the simulator is a separate application, such as Vericut from
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