Tutorial 4: - Pin plunge settings
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In this example we create a winding program using the pin plunge settings in the post processor configuration data. This feature is useful when winding low angles on pipes when using a pin ring. These options allow the fibres to wind along the length of the pipe, before moving the payout head closer in to the mandrel in order to cause the fibres to engage with the pin ring. This is useful, as the clearance radius required to avoid collisions between the payout head and the pin ring may be too high a clearance to allow the fibres to effectively engage in the pin ring.
This tutorial is not meant to represent a complete design, it is intended to illustrate some of the methods and tools available in Cadfil. This example was created with Cadfil 9.55, other versions may have some differences.
The picture below shows an example of a possible application for this. The blue marks show the payout locations, and the yellow bars show where the pins would be on the ends of the pipes. The second image shows the fibre bands on the same mandrel, at both ends the fibres will not wind as shown in the image, they will most likely pull tight against the side of the mandrel.


The first step in creating this in Cadfil pipewinder would be to wind the pipe as if it were a constant diameter pipe. In this example the winding takes place from 500 to 1500. We are also using low angle winding (15 degrees) which would give a very long turning zone, but in this case, we are using a pin ring, which means the friction value can be set much higher. The values can be input into Cadfil Pipewinder as shown below.

When running through the pipewinder process after this, Cadfil estimates that there is a turning zone of about 100mm each end (see picture below). This means that if winding is taking place from x positions 500 to 1500, the pin rings will need to be located at around 600 and 1400, at the end of the turning zones.
The picture below shows the result of this, a pipe with a constant clearance radius.

The next step in the process is to set the pin plunge values. In this case the value will be set that would cause the payout head to touch the surface of the cylinder. However, as shown in the image at the top, the payout head will not collide with the mandrel, as the mandrel radius decreases in the turning zone. Therefore in this case, where the cylinder radius is 200mm and the clearance radius is 260mm, the pin plunge amount will be 60mm.
The pin plunge options are set in the sm file, which can be changed using the post processor configuration data in the NC post process tab. On the second page of the configuration data the following options can be found:

The definitions for the above terms are as follows:
$PW-PIN-PLUNGE-OPT sets the pin plunge options on if it is set to 1, or off if it is set to 0.
$PW-PIN-PLUNGE-VALU sets the amount of pin plunge, so in this case the payout head moves in by 60mm, which is the difference between the clearance radius of 260, and the cylinder radius, 200. If the pin plunge value is greater than the clearance, Cadfil will set this to the clearance (60mm in this example).
$PW-PIN-PLUNGE-XLIM1/2 are the pin plunge x limits. As the pin rings are at x positions 600 and 1400, The pin plunge values need to be outside this range, so that the payout head does not collide with the pin ring. Therefore the pin plunge positions will be set as 550 and 1450.
Once the .sm file has been configured, re-running the pipewinder process will now give payout points that show pin plunge, as shown in the example below, where the payout points now meet the surface of the cylinder
It is also important to note that, when using pin winding, it is important to use a pattern with a larger amount of dwell when selecting the band pattern. Extra dwell can be specified by typing a number into the ‘Extra Dwell (deg)’ box in the band pattern selection dialog, and pressing ‘Re-calc’ to recalculate band patterns with this additional dwell. The pictures below show the result of adding additional dwell.


The final step is to edit the mandrel drawing if you wish. This uses options only available in Cadfil Axsym. This will make no difference to the machine program and is only for illustration purposes in this case. However by selecting ‘Mandrel edit’ in the main options and adding data, the mandrel can be changed from this:


To this:


When the payout file is viewed on the edited mandrel, it will now show as in the pictures at the top of the page.