Powerful new tools on PowerSHAPE Pro

THE 2014 R2 release of Delcam’s PowerSHAPE Pro CAD software introduces powerful new tools to make re-engineering complex parts from scanned data faster and easier, plus an option to merge disjointed faces within a solid and so make direct modelling operations more robust.

By offering a combination of solid, surface and direct modelling, together with reverse engineering functionality, PowerSHAPE Pro provides the most comprehensive range of design techniques available in a single CAD program. Having all the different technologies in the same package reduces the need to transfer data between multiple programs and so streamlines the whole product development process. At the same time, the combination of quick and easy direct modelling options, together with powerful and flexible surface modelling, makes PowerSHAPE the perfect choice for design for manufacture.

All PowerSHAPE Pro models, including those created by reverse engineering, can now be simplified with a new option that merges fragmented faces into a single, continuous surface

The new automated tools for re-engineering provide quicker and simpler methods for segmenting a mesh of scanned data into primitive regions, such as planes, spheres, cones, cylinders and tori, as well as into revolved or extruded surfaces. Primitive surfaces or solids are then fitted automatically to those regions. The user has control over the fit tolerance used when creating the geometry and over the types of primitive to be identified.

Full details, including video demonstrations of the new functionality and the option to download an evaluation version

For more complex geometry, or when finer control is needed, mesh segmentation can be carried out manually. The user simply chooses the region where the geometry is to be created and selects the primitive type to be used. PowerSHAPE Pro then creates the surface or solid to the specified tolerance. As each region is converted, it changes colour, making it easy to see the areas of the model that still require work.

Regions with complex, free-form geometry can now be replaced with a single surface. The target area can be selected with a set of easy-to-use options, while a single dialogue box gives control of the fit of the surface to the mesh. The same technique can be used for areas with large amounts of detail, such as logos or textures.

Once the main surfaces have been created, whether by automatic or manual methods, they can be trimmed together to form a single, closed solid automatically. Interactive controls allow dynamic adjustment over how the surfaces are trimmed to each other, while specific faces can be marked so that they are kept or deleted.

All PowerSHAPE Pro models, including those created by reverse engineering, can now be simplified with a new option that merges fragmented faces into a single, continuous surface.  This simplification makes subsequent operations, such as adding draft to complex regions of the model, much easier and also improves the operation of many of the direct modelling tools in the software.

Following the introduction of the Smart Feature Manager in PowerSHAPE Pro 2014, these capabilities have been enhanced with the addition of theAir Max 95 20th Anniversary Flyknit