Forming Technologies Inc.
Contents
▪ Introduction to CATNEST
▪ Demonstration
▪ Licensing
▪ Support
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Introduction to CATNEST
▪ Automatically nests for best
material utilization for one-up and
two-up layouts
▪ Quickly and accurately estimates
your material requirements
▪ Evaluates multiple nesting
scenarios quickly
▪ Accurately determines total cost per
blank
▪ Will determine the material
utilization for many types of cut-off
dies
▪ Fully integrated into CATIA V5
native environment
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Demonstration
CATNEST Analysis
▪ Open a File
▪ Cost Parameters
▪ Nesting Parameters
▪ Layout Parameters
▪ Layout Results
▪ Layout Editing
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Open a File
▪ Open the file BasePlate.CATPart
▪ Switch to the FTI Blank Nesting workbench
▪ CATNEST uses parameters to input layout and cost parameters. In the Options window located
under the Tools menu, set the following options.
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Cost Parameters
The next step in preparing the model for analysis is to define the cost parameters
▪Under the Parameters branch in the
specifications tree define the following
parameters.
Thickness = 1 mm
Base Material Cost = $0.77 / kg
Extra Material Cost = $0.10 / kg
Scrap Value = $0.01 / kg
Consumables = $0.05 / blank
Production Volume = 500,000 blanks
TotalDieCost1 = $50,000
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Cost Parameters Definitions
Extra Material Cost - any other material costs measured per unit weight of material.
e.g., lubricants, coatings, handling, etc.
Scrap Cost - the value of the scrap material
Consumables - any additional costs that cannot be measured in $/kg. e.g., electricity,
labour, etc.
Total Production Volume - the annual number of blanks that will be produced or the
total number of blanks on a program basis.
TotalDieCost1 - the overall value of the die expressed in the current currency.
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Nesting Parameters
▪ Select the Compute Nesting Layout icon
Note
A Blank Nesting.1 branch is added to the Specifications tree.
▪ In the Nesting Parameters window select Surface.1 as the First
Blank
▪ On the Layout Style tab select the following layouts
One-Up
Two-Up
Rectangular
Parallelogram
Chevron
Miter
Trapezoid
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Layout Parameters
▪ In the Nesting Parameters window select the Layout
Parameters tab and specify
Part Edge Bridge: 3mm
Coil Edge Bridge: 3mm
▪ Select the OK button to calculate the specified layouts
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Layout Parameters Definitions
Part Edge Bridge - the minimum distance between the nested blanks.
Coil Edge Bridge - the minimum distance between the nested blanks and the edge of the coil
Coil Edge Bridge Coil Edge
Part Edge Bridge
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Layout Results
▪ The parameters listed under the Blank Nesting.1 branch are populated and the best layout based
on material utilization is displayed on the X-Y plane.
Note: For the Base Plate blank shape the best layout is the displayed two-up scenario that has a 77.8% material
utilization with a pitch of 240 mm and a coil width of about 430 mm
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Additional Layout Results
▪ Additional layout results can be viewed in the
Results Table. Right click on the Blank
Nesting.1 branch and select Table Results.
▪ To view other layout results, double click on the row for that result in the Results Table
Note: - <1> is the displayed layout
- Columns can be sorted by selecting the column header
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Additional Layout Results
The image on the right
was generated by
selecting the Width
column and then
double clicking on row
#38. This is a One-Up
layout with a width of
245.7mm
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Layout Editing
▪ To manually edit the nest layout, right click on
the Blank Nesting.1 branch and select
Layout Editing.
▪ The option to select the Cluster To Be Edited is not available for one-up
layouts
▪ Use the Layout Editing controls to manually manipulate the displayed
nesting layout. The blanks and/or the coil edges can be moved.
▪ The translation of the blanks or the coil edges are with respect to the
model X and Y axis respectively.
▪ Rotation of the blanks are with respect to the model origin.
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CATNEST Licensing
➢ To obtain a license, you must send Forming Technologies (FTI) your computers
Forming ID number.
➢ To get your Forming ID number double click on the lmformingid.txt file which can be
found in your CATNESTV5 directory.
➢ Send an email with your name, company name and Forming ID number to
[email protected] and a license file will be emailed back to you.
➢ When you receive your license, place it in the C:\FTI\FTICATIAV5Rxx folder
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Questions & Answers
▪ Sales & Marketing
[email protected] 905-340-2997
▪ Support
[email protected]
905-340-2997
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