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ZW3D WHAT’S NEW V 2017
ZW3D Software Co., Ltd
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Copyright and Trademarks © Copyright 2017 ZWCAD Software Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.
Floor 4, NO.886, Tianhe North Road, Guangzhou 510635 P.R.China
(8620)38289780
ZW3D™ V2017 What’s New This documentation may be reproduced provided it complies with the terms
presented on the LICENSE AGREEMENT supplied.
ZWCAD Software Co., Ltd and the program authors have no liability to the purchaser
or any other entity, with respect to any liability, loss, or damage caused, directly or
indirectly by this software and training materials, including but not limited to, any
interruptions of service, loss of business, anticipatory profits, or consequential damages resulting from the use of or operation of this software.
Updates may be made to this documentation and incorporated into later editions.
ZW3D™ is a registering trademark of ZWCAD Software Co., Ltd.
The ZW3D™ logo is a registering trademark of ZWCAD Software Co., Ltd.
ZWCAD™, ZWSOFT™, the ZWCAD™ logo, and the ZWSOFT™ logo are all trademarks of
ZWCAD Software Co., Ltd.
Printed in the P. R. China.
I
Contents
Highlights of ZW3D 2017 ..................................................................................... 1
1 Basics ....................................................................................................... 1
1.1 ★Smaller Z3 File............................................................................... 1
1.2 New “Physical Attributes” ................................................................... 2
1.3 ★Upgraded “Equation Manager” ........................................................... 4
1.4 Updated Link Manager ........................................................................ 7
1.5 Upgraded Dynamic Section View ........................................................... 7
1.6 Tweaked Material ............................................................................ 10
1.7 Batch Edit for “Find/Replace Name” ..................................................... 11
1.8 Tweaked UI .................................................................................... 12
1.9 PMI “Coordinate” Annotation Supports Local Frame ................................... 12
2 Translator ................................................................................................ 13
2.1 Import .......................................................................................... 13
2.1.1 Improvements done for Import ............................................................ 13
2.1.2 Update for Supported Import Formats.................................................... 14
2.2 Export .......................................................................................... 15
2.2.1 Update for Supported Export Formats .................................................... 15
3 CAD ........................................................................................................ 16
3.1 Sketch Design ................................................................................. 16
3.1.1 ★New “Sketch Block” ....................................................................... 16
3.1.2 Customization Ready Sketch ............................................................... 17
3.1.3 Data Manager Visible inside Sketch Context ............................................. 17
3.1.4 New “Move entities along a direction” ................................................... 19
II
3.2 Wireframe Design ............................................................................ 19
3.2.1 New “Extract Centerline” .................................................................. 19
3.2.2 Upgraded “Project Silhouette to a Plane” into “Silhouette Curves” ............... 21
3.2.3 “Face Curve” Generates Common Wireframe ........................................... 21
3.3 Part Design .................................................................................... 22
3.3.1 Improved Fillet to Work Faster and Cover More Cases ................................ 22
3.3.2 Tweaked Part Configuration to Support Export and Import .......................... 23
3.3.3 Misc. ............................................................................................ 23
3.4 Sheet Metal Design ........................................................................... 24
3.4.1 Upgraded “Full Flange” ..................................................................... 24
3.4.2 Upgraded “Partial Flange”.................................................................. 25
3.4.3 Upgraded “Swept Flange” .................................................................. 25
3.4.4 Updated “Close Corner” .................................................................... 26
3.4.5 Upgraded “Fold by Line” .................................................................... 26
3.4.6 New “Jog” ..................................................................................... 26
3.4.7 New “Hem” .................................................................................... 26
3.4.8 New “Extend Flange” ........................................................................ 26
3.4.9 New “Bend Taper” ........................................................................... 27
3.4.10 New “Normal Cut” ........................................................................... 27
3.5 Assembly Design .............................................................................. 27
3.5.1 Assembly Fillet ................................................................................ 27
3.5.2 Assembly Chamfer ............................................................................ 28
3.5.3 Improved Component Regeneration with Assembly Replay ........................... 28
3.5.4 Tweaked “Insert a Component” ........................................................... 29
3.5.5 Other Assembly Changes .................................................................... 30
3.6 Mold Design .................................................................................... 30
III
3.6.1 New Mold Standard Part Lib Directory Customization Support ....................... 30
3.7 Drawing Sheet Design ........................................................................ 31
3.7.1 New project line setting on Each Projected Components ............................. 31
3.7.2 New “Depth” option on Section View to Define What is projected ................. 31
3.7.3 New Hatch Visibility Setting on Each Projected Components ........................ 32
3.7.4 New Associative Model Setup for Each Drawing Sheet ................................. 33
3.7.5 New Equation Manager ...................................................................... 33
3.7.6 New Format for Referencing Variable .................................................... 34
3.7.7 Improved BOM................................................................................. 35
4 CAM ........................................................................................................ 37
4.1 Summary of CAM new features............................................................. 37
4.2 New Flat Finishing Operation .............................................................. 37
4.3 Profile and Surface Engraving support user-defined tool ............................. 41
4.3.1 User-Defined Tool ............................................................................ 41
4.3.2 Tool Path Calculation in Profile and Surface Engraving Operation .................. 44
4.3.3 Solid Verify with User-Defined Tool ....................................................... 45
4.4 Mill-Turn Simulation ......................................................................... 45
4.5 New Ramp Pitch for Ramp Operation ..................................................... 46
4.6 Misc. ............................................................................................ 47
4.6.1 Forced Plane Engagement in Z Level Operation ........................................ 47
4.6.2 Batch Calculate Support One-Click Import .............................................. 48
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Highlights of ZW3D 2017
Basics： Smaller Z3 File
Upgraded Equation Manager
Upgraded Dynamic Section View
New Physical Attribute
Translator： Supported Versions Update
Speedup STEP Import
CAD： New “Sketch Block”
Data Manager Visible under Sketch Context
Upgraded “Silhouette Curve”
Upgraded Sheet Metal to Expend its Capability
Upgraded “Full Flange”
Upgraded “Partial Flange”
Upgraded “Swept Flange”
New “Jog”
New “Hem”
New “Extend Flange”
New “Bend Taper”
New “Normal Cut”
New “Assembly Fillet” and “Assembly Chamfer”
New Project Lines Setting on Each Projected Components
New Hatch Visibility Setting
New Associative Model Setup for Each Drawing Sheet
Improved BOM
CAM： To continue…
Note: Important enhancements in this article are marked with
1
1 Basics
1.1 ★Smaller Z3 File
Smaller Z3 file can be easily archived, transmitted and shared. Here are a few ways 2017 has
offered to downsize the Z3 file dramatically, equivalent to Parasolid.
1. New options to control whether display and edge data need to be saved
3 options have been provided on “Configuration > General > General” as following.
Save file without display & edge data
Save file without display data
Save file with all data
“Save file without display & edge data” option is on by default and can generate the
smallest Z3 file.
Z3 file saved without display data needs to re-generate the display data during file
opening process, which will cost a little more time comparing with the previous version,
but not noticeable.
--->
2. Update “Automatic NURBS data reduction”
“Automatic NURBS data reduction” option on “Configuration > Part > General” has been
updated to make it limited to work on non-analytic surfaces which has no less than 64
control points.
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1.2 New “Physical Attributes”
“Part Attributes” form has added the “Physical” tab to calculate common part attributes,
like Mass, Volume, Area, Size, Centroid, for user to look up directly.
1. different calculation scopes set by “Source” option
All in current
The calculation includes all shapes from active part/assembly, parts inserted as
components, sub-assemblies and their own components within. All calculated objects
will use their current status.
All from origin
The calculation includes the same objects as “All in current”, except it will open
those objects and find out their origin data, and use that data to get the result.
Only part in current
The calculation only takes in the part objects from its all components, and use their
current status of those parts to generate the result. The objects marked as Assembly
will not be considered for calculation.
Only part from origin
Similar with “Only part in current”, the calculation limits its objects on Part type,
but will open those parts and dig out their origin data, then do the counting.
->How it works
Involved objects when calculating the physical attributes of the Assembly 1
The structure of Assembly 1 “All” “Only Part”
Assembly 1
┣Shapes of the Assembly 1
┣Sub-assembly1
┣Shapes of the sub-assembly1
┣Part 1
┣Part 2
┣Part 1
┣Part 2
√
√
√
√
√
√
√
×
×
×
√
√
√
√
3
2. New “Size” attribute
Part_Length, Part_Width and Part_Height are newly added numeric part attributes,
which consist of another new part attribute Part_Size as Length * Width * Height.
Part_Size is a character attribute, and it uses the decimal setting to read out those 3
attributes.
3. Unit support for basic attributes
Unit from the Density is used by other part attributes on the form to display their values.
Only length numeric attributes like Length, Width, Height will be saved its value and unit
together, such as Length = 10cm. Other part attributes like Mass, Volume, Area only save
its value using default system unit, for example Mass = 10kg.
4. Customization support for basic attributes
Mass, Volume, Area and Size attributes can be input customized values to override the
calculated number if you like.
Meanwhile, you can use “Mass Attributes” to calculate specific objects to get customized
values to override those 4 attributes.
5. Auto update during saving
“Update on save” option is used to auto calculate the object and update related physical
attributes during file saving. Since this calculation occurs during saving, the file save
process will take on more time than common situation.
6. Name field on “Part attribute > Standard” from Z3PRT can’t be changed
Object name is synchronized with the file name if suffix of the file is Z3PRT, and the file
name can’t be changed while the file is open. So the Name field of the part with suffix
Z3PRT can’t be edit.
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1.3 ★Upgraded “Equation Manager”
This upgraded equation manager gathers all variables and equation sets into one form, and
develops its capabilities as following.
1. New form with composite tree and list widget to manage variables and equations all
together
User-defined variables and equation sets are listed on the tree following their
creation order.
Enlisted feature dimensions are listed after the ones mentioned above.
Variables and dimensions of sketches are listed at the third place.
Variables and dimensions of sketch blocks referenced by current object will be listed
at fourth place.
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Detail info, such as expression, value, unit and so on, of each node are output
through each cell of the row. And columns can be customized through the right-click
menu.
The right-click menu on each node is provided.
2. More new variable types
A. String variable
You can define the string variable with quotation marks, like String1 = “ZW3D”.
Only additon operation is supported for string variable. For example,
String1 = “ZW3D”, String2 = “2017”, then String3 = String1+String2 = “ZW3D 2017”.
If you want to use a numeric variable to define a string variable, you need to use
num2str() function to read out the number as characters.
B. Point variable
Point(X,Y,Z) is the way you define a point variable, like Point1 = Point(1,2,3).
Assignment is the only operation supported by Point variable, but you can use other
numeric variables to define the value of its coordinates.
C. Vector variable
Similar with point variable, Vector(X,Y,Z) is the form you define a vector variable, like
Vector1 = Vector(1,2,3).
You can do addition, subtraction and Scalar multiplication operation on vector
variables. For example,
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Vector1(1,1,1), Vector2(0,1,1)，then
Vector3 = Vector1 + Vector2 = Vector(1,2,2)
Vector4 = Vector1 – Vector2 = Vector(1,0,0)
Vector5 = 5*Vector1 = Vector(5,5,5)
3. New unit support
Numeric variables can set up their units. And constant explicitly defined with a unit is
still supported. For example, the expression result of the length variable A in cm unit is:
A = 1.mm+1.in+1=1+25.4+1=27.4
4. New Description to attach note onto variables
Description is used to add more info to the variable for others to learn about.
5. New “Enlist Dimension” to enroll the feature parameters into the equation manager
Feature parameters can reference variables, and would be very helpful to stay together
in a same form to edit.
If a feature parameter references a variable, it will be enlisted into equation
manager by default.
“Enlist Dimension” can be used to add feature parameters into equation manager by
picking on graphic area.
“Listed in Variable” option on the edit form of each parameter also can enlist itself.
If you want the parameter enlisted from the equation manager, just use the
“Unenlist” option from its right-click menu.
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6. Quick name tag creation and modification
7. Z3 file info is recorded when variable reference is crossing file
8. Excel export and import support
9. New function list to provide more functions and constant
1.4 Updated Link Manager
1. Standalone sketch is included inside Link manager if it’s referenced.
Standalone sketch can be referenced by other part objects through “External Sketch”,
so that the part will follow the change of the standalone sketch.
The association between the standalone sketch and its reference instances can be
found within the link manager.
Elements of a standalone sketch, such as variables and sketch blocks, also can be
referenced by other external object. And you can found out the association among
these references inside the link manager.
1.5 Upgraded Dynamic Section View
To continue…
1. New view archive and redefinition support
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2. Section effect can work on all display modes
Wireframe Shade Hidden Analyze Combination
3. New drag handle support to directly transform the section plane
4. Clickable section plane to switch active plane directly
5. New “Reverse Direction” button to directly switch side to remove
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6. New “Orient view to plane” to align the view to the section plane
7. New “Display section curves” option to show up the boundaries of the section areas
8. Direct measurement support during sectioning
9. Direct pick on visible entities after section to measure
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10. Saved section view can be used directly by “ISO Metric Section View”
1.6 Tweaked Material
1. New material assignment type
A part has its material while its shapes also can have their own one. There are 2
assignment types for you to do whatever you like.
Part Material
This is to set up the part material, and you can use the “Override shape material”
option to get rid of any defined materials of shapes within.
Shape Material
Pick the shapes you like to set up their own materials.
2. New Import/Export support
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You can use the export button to output all material into a text file, then re-import it
after modification.
1.7 Batch Edit for “Find/Replace Name”
“Find/Replace Name” has provided a new option “Import Excel to make multiple
replacements” to help you to do a batch name update. Here is the format you should follow
inside the Excel.
Data should start on first row and column.
Name order on each row is: old file name, new file name, old object name, new
object name.
One row represents one find/replace.
Empty cell means on find/replace.
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1.8 Tweaked UI
1. Role selection on the first startup to set up your favorite UI
Basing on your actual practice, you can set up your favorite UI by selecting different user
roles on ZW3D first startup.
2. Reset the UI basing the activated license when the license is activated for the first
time
By doing this, you can have all your purchased modules displayed by default after you
activate your ZW3D.
Since the UI is going to be reset, you need to save the current UI as your own role to
bring back the UI after activation if you want to keep the way it is.
1.9 PMI “Coordinate” Annotation Supports Local Frame
PMI “Coordinate” annotation provides a new Frame field to allow you to select any datum
plane as a local frame to read out its relative coordinates. It uses the active frame as default
if no frame is specified.
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2 Translator
2.1 Import
2.1.1 Improvements done for Import
1. Speedup STEP import on complex parts with lots of faces
On some cases up to 50% speedup can be gained for STEP import.
2. New “Hidden entity” option to control whether the blanked objects are imported or
not
The option is available for following formats:
ACIS, CATIA V5/V6，NX, Creo, Solidworks
3. New “PMI” option to control whether it can be imported or not
The option is available for following formats:
CATIA V5/V6，NX, Creo, Solidworks
PMI objects are all kinds of information attaching to the 3D entities of a part or an
assembly, which can be used as a replacement for drawing sheet. Through the imported
PMIs, you can learn about all the info documented inside the original file before import,
and move, show/unblank or delete each PMI object if you like.
14
4. Name info import support for Entities
Entities can carry their own name inside a model on some 3D system. After import, these
names can be inherited by the corresponding entities inside ZW3D for users to work on
same info.
Since name inside history manager only support 32 characters, the long imported name
will be truncated automatically to accommodate.
2.1.2 Update for Supported Import Formats
The update is marked by Red.
Format Extention Version
Catia V4 .model, .exp, .session 4.1.9 – 4.2.4
Catia V5/V6 .CATPart, .CATProduct, .CGR, .3DXML
V5R8---V5/V6R2016
NX(UG) .prt 11– NX 10
Creo(Pro/E) .prt, .prt*, .asm, .asm.* 16 – Creo 3.0
SolidWorks .sldprt, .sldasm 98– 2016(Only 64)
SolidEdge .par, .asm, .psm V18 – ST8
Inventor .ipt, .iam Up to V2016
ACIS .sat, .sab, .asat, .asab R1 – R26(2016)
DWG .dwg R11 - 2013
DXF .dxf R11 - 2013
IGES .ige, .iges
STEP .stp, .step 203, 214
Parasolid .x_t, .x_b, .xmt_txt, .xmt_bin Up to 29.0
VDA .vda
Image File *.bmp, *.gif, *.jpg, *.jpeg, *.tif, *.tiff
Neutral File *.z3n, *.v3n
PartSolutions *.ps2, *.ps3
STL *.stl
3DXML .3dxml V4.3
XCGM .x cgm R2012-2016 1.1
15
JT .jt JT 8.x/9.x
Supported formats on XP version are not listed here.
2.2 Export
2.2.1 Update for Supported Export Formats
The update is marked in Red.
Formats Extention Version
Catia V4 .model, 4.1.9 – 4.2.4
Catia V5 .CATPart, .CATProduct, V5R15 – V5–6R2016
ACIS .sat, .sab, .asat, .asab R1 – R26(2016)
DWG .dwg R11 - 2013
DXF .dxf R11 - 2013
IGES .ige, .iges
STEP .stp, .step 203, 214
Parasolid .x_t, .x_b, .xmt_txt, .xmt_bin 7.0 ~ 28.0
VDA .vda
Image File *.bmp, *.gif, *.jpg, *.jpeg, *.tif, *.tiff
Neutral File *.z3n, *.v3n
PDF *.pdf
STL *.stl
WRML File *.wrl
HTML File *.html, *.htm
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3 CAD
3.1 Sketch Design
3.1.1 ★New “Sketch Block”
To continue…
Sketch block collects a group of sketch entities and make them work as a single object under
sketch context.
1. Block types
Rigid block
Flexible block
2. Create a block
3. Edit a block
4. Reference
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3.1.2 Customization Ready Sketch
After sketch blocks are defined inside a sketch, you can save these sketch blocks as Ready
sketch into the Bundle.Z3 file, and then re-insert them again later.
3.1.3 Data Manager Visible inside Sketch Context
Data manager carries history manager, assembly manger, view manager and visual manger, so
after 2017 supports to display data manger inside the sketch context, you can access all the
data through it. Here are the common related operations:
Toggle the visibility of geometry entities on the history manager.
Toggle the dimension visibility of history features.
Toggle the visibility of components on the assembly manager.
Change the graphic display effect through view and visualize manager.
->How to do
1. Blank unwanted components during on-place editing a component of an assembly
1) Open an assembly file, then double-click on the component you want to edit on the
assembly tree into the part editing context.
2) New a sketch to go into the sketch context.
18
3) During drawing, when you want to pick some edge from certain component, but
there are too much components displayed blocking you to find the edge. pick the
unwanted components on the assembly tree, and right-click to select “Blank”
command.
2. Directly reference an external feature dimension during editing a sketch dimension
1) New a part, and create a block.
2) Create a sketch feature to get into sketch context, then draw a Slot.
3) The radius dimension of the slot is going to reference the width dimension of the
block, but the width dimension is hidden. So right-click the block feature on the
history manger, and pick “Show Dimensions” command to display the dimensions.
19
4) Double-click the radius dimension to bring up the edit form, then click the “Select
dimension” button; hold down F7 key, and pick the width dimension, then edit the
number field to input \2, click OK button to finish.
3.1.4 New “Move entities along a direction”
To continue…
3.2 Wireframe Design
3.2.1 New “Extract Centerline”
“Extract Centerline” is used to extract the centerlines of revolved face and the swept face
with sections consisted of circle or arc as following pictures shown.
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->Where it is
Part context > Wireframe Ribbon > Curve > Extract Centerline
->How it works
1. To extract centerlines of revolved faces: cylindrical, conical and torus faces.
2. To extract centerlines of fillet faces.
3. To extract centerlines of swept faces with circle or arc section
Constant radius->
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Various radius->
3.2.2 Upgraded “Project Silhouette to a Plane” into “Silhouette Curves”
To continue…
3.2.3 “Face Curve” Generates Common Wireframe
To continue…
22
3.3 Part Design
To continue…
3.3.1 Improved Fillet to Work Faster and Cover More Cases
To continue…
1. Speed up echo for Fillet on large parts
Modified faces need to refresh to display during echo. Due to better recognition on which
faces are modified to avoid faces false-marked as modified, fillet echo now works better
on large parts.
2. Fillet supports tolerant models better
23
3.3.2 Tweaked Part Configuration to Support Export and Import
1. New “Add all dimensions” button to enlist all history features and their dimensions
into part configuration
If you want to control all the features and their dimensions of a model inside part
configuration, you can use this new button to enlist all of them at one time. After that,
you can modify the suppression status of value of each feature, or export the
configuration to csv file.
2. New “Export” and “Import” buttons
You can export the part configuration into a csv file, then use Excel to edit the file like
adding new configuration item, changing dimension value. After that, you can import the
modified csv file again to update the part configuration.
The imported csv file will replace current part configuration with its own data. So it’s
recommended that no change should be made after export and before import, for the
change will be lost after import.
3.3.3 Misc.
To continue…
1. Variable used by a feature’s parameters or conditional suppression will be listed on its
dependency inquiry
2. Improved Extrude to Face
24
3. Improved face-split algorithm to make Boolean more robust
4. Improved Trim with extension to make it clean
5. “Modify Fillet” adds selection limitation to only support picking cylindrical and
spherical faces, and a new “Tolerance” field
The added selection limitation is to avoid mal-picking on invalid entities, and the
tolerance field is to facilitate the user to customize the feature tolerance.
“Modify Radius” also has added the “Tolerance” field.
3.4 Sheet Metal Design
3.4.1 Upgraded “Full Flange”
To continue…
1. Enrich ways to control flange height
2. More new profile control for S bend
25
3. New dynamic dimension handle support
4. Upgrade Miter function to eliminate interference
3.4.2 Upgraded “Partial Flange”
To continue...
3.4.3 Upgraded “Swept Flange”
To continue…
26
3.4.4 Updated “Close Corner”
To continue…
3.4.5 Upgraded “Fold by Line”
To continue…
3.4.6 New “Jog”
To continue…
3.4.7 New “Hem”
To continue…
3.4.8 New “Extend Flange”
To continue…
27
3.4.9 New “Bend Taper”
To continue…
3.4.10 New “Normal Cut”
To continue…
Normal to Both Sides Normal to Middle
3.5 Assembly Design
3.5.1 Assembly Fillet
To continue…
28
3.5.2 Assembly Chamfer
To continue…
3.5.3 Improved Component Regeneration with Assembly Replay
Component regeneration under assembly context is to facilitate users to directly regenerate
specified components if needed to avoid any component activation and replay one by one,
and hence users can work more efficient.
1. Tweaked “Auto Regen” of top-level components to set up regeneration along with
assembly replay
Regeneration along with assembly replay is done by “Auto regen” which lies on the right-
click menu of top-level components and the form of “Insert Component” command. Here
are the options provided by “Auto Regen”.
New assembly mode
“Before assembly regen” -> if the original part of the component is outdated,
the component will regenerate its own history before the assembly regeneration
is executed.
“After assembly regen” -> if the original part of the component is outdated,
after the assembly finishes its regeneration, the component then will regenerate
its own history.
Due to the component regen after the assembly, the assembly features and
alignments related to the component would be outdated. So you have to regen
the assembly again to update assembly features or alignments.
“None” -> if no desire for auto regen during assembly replay, this is the one. And
this is default option.
Old assembly mode
3 similar options are also provided as previous version which you can refer to the help
documentation.
29
2. New “Regen” command on each component to regenerate its original part directly
Whenever you want to regenerate the component, you just use this, no need to activate
or open the component.
3.5.4 Tweaked “Insert a Component”
1. Auto select the sole part/assembly object
If a Z3 file only contains a part/assembly object, it will be selected directly as the
component to insert.
2. Tweaked the auto alignment during insertion with new “frame” alignment support
After the tweak, the auto align provides following ways.
Point
Auto add point coincidence alignment between the insert point and the origin of the
component if the insert point is on some entity.
Face/Datum
If a face is selected as the align entity, a coincident alignment will be added
between the face and the XY plane of the component.
If a datum is selected, the datum is coincident aligned with the XY plane of the
component along with their origins.
Frame
The component will be fully constrained by the frame alignment between the
selected datum and the XY plane of the component.
3. Regen setting support on new assembly mode
30
After this support, you can set up component regen as you desire. For meaning of each
option, please refer to previous section.
New assembly mode Old assembly mode
None
Before assembly regen
After assembly regen
None
At insert
At end
To switch between new and old, check on/off the option “Configuration > Part > New
assembly mode”.
3.5.5 Other Assembly Changes
1. Auto zoom to the edited component at activation to present a clear view
When you double-click a component from the assembly tree to activate an on-place edit,
the corresponding component on the graphic area will be automatically zoom to its size
for you to see it clearly.
3.6 Mold Design
3.6.1 New Mold Standard Part Lib Directory Customization Support
After this lib directory customization support, you can set up your lib on your favorite
directory, even on a sever to share the lib for multiple users to access as a public lib.
31
->Where it is
Part context > Mold Ribbon > Tools Panel > Config > Library
3.7 Drawing Sheet Design
3.7.1 New project line setting on Each Projected Components
To continue…
3.7.2 New “Depth” option on Section View to Define What is projected
To continue…
32
3.7.3 New Hatch Visibility Setting on Each Projected Components
To continue…
33
3.7.4 New Associative Model Setup for Each Drawing Sheet
To continue…
3.7.5 New Equation Manager
Just like the one inside part context, a new equation manager is provided under drafting
context for user to manage all their customized variables at one form.
34
->Where it is
Drafting > Tools Ribbon > Utilities
->How it works
1. Open equation manager and create a new constant number variable “Roughness” giving
1.2 value.
2. Start dimension ribbon > Surface Finish, and pick one entity to locate the symbol, then
input the characters “[$Roughness]” (without the quotation mark) on the Minimum
roughness value field, and click OK to finish. Now you can use the variable to control
the roughness.
3.7.6 New Format for Referencing Variable
To continue…
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3.7.7 Improved BOM
1. More new attributes to read out: Size, Length, Width, Height
Size, length, width and height are the added-newly attributes of part physical attributes
as mentioned by previous section. BOM supports to read out these new attributes as
following picture shows.
If these attributes are not found inside the 3D models, BOM will automatically calculate
to get their values by default.
2. Column is available for equation operation
Common equation combines the default columns to form a new column. For example, you
can use the default Length, Width and Height column mentioned above to get a new
Custom Size column.
Now you can use any column including any customized column in an equation. <TC_XXX>
is the way to define which column is used in the equation. For example, Price is a
customized column, and Total Cost column uses <TC_Quantity>*<TC_Price> equation to
get the product of Price and Quantity columns.
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3. Adjust ID update when BOM ID is using assembly order
When BOM ID is using assembly order and the assembly order is changed inside the 3D
model, the ID can be updated by BOM regen. But if there are some custom change on
some IDs, then the BOM regen have no effect on IDs. If you like to update the ID on such
case, you need to use the “Restore Origin Value” command from the right-click menu of
each modified cells to reset their value first.
4. More new BOM drag behaviors
When dragging the boundary line of rows or column of BOM to adjust their width or
height, you can snap to the lines of sheet border or title block to align with them.
After pre-select the BOM, holding down Alt key and drag can move the BOM around.
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4 CAM
4.1 Summary of CAM new features
ZW3D CAM contains 2~5aixs machining modules with flexible and rich milling strategies. It’s
an easy to learn and easy to use NC CAM software which is widely used in tool making,
automotive industry, and mold industry. This document describes the most significant
improvements of ZW3D 2017 version. ZW3D 2017 contains the following new features and
enhancements in CAM module:
New Flat Finishing Operation - For planar face machining, to make programming tool path on
planar face more efficient and reliable
Profile and Surface Engraving Supports User-Defined Tool – Allow users to define their own
tools, and use the defined tools to calculate tool path in profile and surface engraving
operations, finally, it supports to solid verify the machining process.
Mill-Turn Simulation – To support simultaneous mill-turn simulation
New Ramp Pitch for Ramp Operation – To make the parameters setting in ramp operation
more user-friendly
Misc. - some enhancements to make users' work more efficient and more stable, such as
Forced Plane Engagement in Z Level – Add an option in Z level operation and make it can
detect all planes automatically and then guarantee all the planes to be engaged with tool
path during stepping down by turn on this option
Batch calculation supports one-click import
4.2 New Flat Finishing Operation
There is a new operation Flat Finishing added in ZW3D 2017 version to make the planar
surface programming more efficient and more reliable.
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The new flat finishing operation can detect all of the planar surface within given flat
tolerance automatically, and then create tool path for all planar surfaces in one operation or
create tool path for the planar surfaces within limiting parameters.
It also supports to use Reference Tool function to clean up the corners of planar face by using
a smaller cutter to refer to a big cutter.
Two path pattern types are supported in this operation, one is Lace and the other is Offset 2D.
See below figures.
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There is a Bottom Finish option to allow users to create two layers of tool path for semi-
finishing with specific stepdown value.
The flat end-mill and bullnose end-mill are recommended cutters for this operation.
There are some new parameters built in this dedicated flat machining operation to make it
more flexible and reliable. The parameters as below, and the figure shows the position of
these parameters:
Path Type: Use this option to specify which path pattern will be used, Offset2D or Lace path
pattern.
Ignore Hole TDU: To filter some tool path on small regions by inputting a ratio between cutter
diameters and area of single flat region.
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Outside In: To define the tool path on boundary or past boundary.
Side Finish: Distance between cleanup tool path and filling tool path.
Bottom Finish: It will add one more layer tool path if you give a Z step value in this option.
How it works
Pick Flat finishing icon to create a flat finishing operation, and create a Flat Region feature to
add to this operation, and then it can select a cutter to create tool path.
Note 1, the Flat Region feature is a necessary feature for this operation. The profile feature
can be used to define the machining area, and it is used to limit tool path within profile
feature.
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Note 2, the Flat Tolerance is used for extracting surfaces whose height difference is under the
given tolerance value to create flat region.
4.3 Profile and Surface Engraving support user-defined tool
There are a lot of customers from part making and wood machining industry want that the
Profile and Surface Engraving operations can support user-defined tool, below are some key
features offered in new version:
Users can define any shape tools by themselves in tool manager
The defined tool can be used for calculating tool path in Profile and Surface Engraving
operations
The solid verify can support to simulate the effect of cutting by using these tools
4.3.1 User-Defined Tool
There is a new option User Define added in Subtype. Users can click Add button to add lines
or arcs step by step to draw out a cutter.
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The figure below points out the sequence of the lines, and can be an example to help to
explain the rules of user-defined tool and some parameters,
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Line Length: length of straight line
Angle: Start angle for line and arc segment. Vertex of angle is on the start point of segment,
0 degree always start form x negative direction, see below picture shows,
And let’s take an example for reference, see below.
Radius: Radius of arc
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Sweep: degree of central angle
Note:
1. The first segment starts from the center line of the cutter, and you just need to draw out
half section of the cutter.
2. The next segment always starts from the end point of last segment.
3. The line and arc can be in one segment as No. 3 in this example. But the premise is the
value of angles are the same.
4.3.2 Tool Path Calculation in Profile and Surface Engraving Operation
There are two operations support to use user-defined tool to calculate tool path.
One is Profile operation in 2x Mill module,
The other one is Surface Engraving operation which list in 3X Nurbs module.
Note: It always extracts the maximum diameters and lowest point of the user defined cutter
to calculate tool path in these two operations.
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4.3.3 Solid Verify with User-Defined Tool
The solid verify can support to simulate the effect of cutting by using these user-defined tools.
4.4 Mill-Turn Simulation
In ZW3D2017, it supports mill-turn simultaneous simulation in this new version.
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4.5 New Ramp Pitch for Ramp Operation
In previous version, there is no Z stepdown option to define z step size directly, it’s hard for users
to define z step size by using Ramp Angle, and it cannot support to create tool path for multi
regions with same step size, see below, the figure shows the result of Ramp Angle setting,
To make this operation more user-friendly, the new Ramp Pitch option is added in this
operation, it can define the z step size directly, and can make tool path for different regions
with same Z step size, see the figure below,
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4.6 Misc.
4.6.1 Forced Plane Engagement in Z Level Operation
In previous version, we need to manually pick the planes to define the plane engagement to
make the uniform thickness remain on the desired planes.
It’s a little difficult to manually pick the planes if the part contains a lot of planes. To make this
work more stable and reliable, we add a new option, Plane Engagement, to help users detect
these planes automatically.
We use Synchro ZLevel option to manually pick the points on the planes in previous version,
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Now we just turn on Plane Engagement option in new version then it can detect all planes
automatically.
4.6.2 Batch Calculate Support One-Click Import
In ZW3D2017 version, all batch calculation tool-path can be imported at a time by click on
new added Import All button.