The new GibbsCAM option, which supports five-axis simultaneous milling, further extends GibbsCAM's existing machining capability and provides the user with a complete range of five-axis milling functionality.

According to the company, not only do five-axis machine tools minimize the number of setups required to machine a part, but many of the models being created by today's CAD system contain geometry that can only be machined using five-axis technology. Impellers, turbine blades, porting on cylinder heads and wing spars are great examples of parts whose geometry requires five-axis machining.

The module includes the following capabilities: multi-surface five-axis roughing and finishing; multi-surface five-axis flowline machining; surface edge five-axis swarf cutting; adaptable gouge checking, which ensures safe cuts in the most complex operations; complete control over entry/exit, cut-to-cut and between cut moves; and five-axis depth cuts machining.

A number of three-axis enhancements for GibbsCAM are also available.