12/31/2018 Siemens Documentation

Spindle orientation

For more information on the MCS see Manufacturing General Help.

NX Manufacturing provides two important and effective coordinate systems to assist you during your part programming sessions, the Work Coordinate System (WCS) and
the Machine Coordinate System (MCS). Each coordinate system has a specific purpose that must be understood, and when used properly together, they provide
flexibility and convenience in any lathe programming situation.

The Work Coordinate System (WCS) in Turning

Throughout the NX system, the WCS is provided as a user-convenience coordinate system. It is designed to be oriented or moved to wherever is most convenient for
specifying input to the system or for viewing output from the system such as analysis results and information about the model. In Manufacturing, the WCS is also used
for inputting machining parameters such as angles, vectors, coordinate points, etc.

When doing lathe work, the programming is done in a 2D plane referred to as the lathe work plane. Because lathe work is planar, it becomes very convenient to orient
the WCS XY-plane to be parallel to the lathe work plane. This improves ease-of-use and allows you to specify input data, especially angles, in a natural orientation that
is intuitive and yet independent of the machine orientation. Accordingly, for all lathe programming cases, the desired practice will naturally be to set the WCS so that
the XC axis is toward your right side (3 o'clock) and the YC axis is straight up (12 o'clock). This is assuming that the lathe work plane is parallel to the screen. This
convention becomes very useful for programming all machine orientations, whether horizontal lathes, VTLs, inverted VTLs, or any other machine or spindle
orientation.

To begin your programming session,

1. orient your Unigraphics NX view so that the lathe work plane is parallel to your screen and the part is in the rotational orientation in which you want to program
2. orient the WCS so that the XC-YC plane is parallel to the lathe work plane (and the screen) with the XC-axis to your right (3 o'clock) and the YC-axis is straight up
(12 o'clock)
3. define the MCS(s), which govern the machine output coordinates for tool path generation and postprocessing.
Clearly, the WCS should not determine the spindle centerline nor control the output coordinates for the cutter positions. The WCS must be free to be relocated at your
convenience for other machining or modeling activities.

The Machine Coordinate System (MCS) in Turning

Currently, the spindle centerline and the program zero are determined by the MCS orientation. The MCS also dictates the output coordinates of the cutter locations in
the tool path. The determination of the spindle centerline, the program zero, and the lathe work plane for that spindle will be done at the time the MCS is defined
during the programming session. Two possible orientations of the MCS are provided, as follows:
1. MCS ZX Plane - If the MCS ZX plane is parallel to the WCS XY plane at the time that the MCS is defined, then  
the ZM axis will be interpreted as the spindle centerline,
the MCS origin will be interpreted as the program zero position
the MCS ZX plane will be the lathe work plane
This will become the most popular scenario for general lathe programming and will be very useful for programming production centers (mill/turns), because this
orientation matches the coordinates of the machine tool.
2. MCS XY Plane - If the MCS XY plane is parallel to the WCS XY plane at the time that the MCS is defined, then
the XM axis will be interpreted as the spindle centerline
the MCS origin will be interpreted as the program zero position
and the MCS XY plane will be the lathe work plane
This orientation is provided for all those who traditionally programmed their lathes in the XY plane.
 For multiple spindle machines, an MCS should be defined for each spindle. For turn-around part situations (where the part is turned end-to-end in the same spindle),
an MCS may be defined for each part orientation.

Warning Spun outlines reference the MCS. Do not modify the MCS to reference geometry from the spun outline, or you will create a circular reference that causes
errors.

Horizontal Lathe Programming

The following illustrations show the allowable orientations of the MCS relative to the part for programming horizontal lathes. It is assumed that the view, in both cases,
is the view of the WCS XY plane.

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The MCS ZX Plane as the Programming Plane and the ZM Axis as The MCS XY Plane as the Programming Plane and the XM Axis as
the Spindle Centerline. the Spindle Centerline.

The MCS may be rotated by 180 degrees about centerline for machines where the positive (+) radial movement is toward the lower side or front side of the machine.

Vertical Lathe (VTL) Programming

The following illustrations show the allowable orientations of the MCS relative to the part for programming vertical lathes. It is assumed that the view, in both cases, is
the view of the WCS XY plane.

The MCS ZX Plane as the Programming Plane and the The MCS XY Plane as the Programming Plane and the XM
ZM Axis as the Spindle Centerline Axis as the Spindle Centerline.

The MCS may be rotated by 180 degrees about centerline for machines where the positive (+) radial movement is toward the right side of the machine.

Note If you prefer to program VTL machines viewed in the horizontal orientation, you should follow the instructions as described for horizontal lathes. In fact, you
may program any lathe orientation in any view that is convenient to you without affecting the output, as long as the MCS-to-part relationship remains the
same.

 Other Lathe Orientations

The guidelines for orienting the NX view and coordinate systems are the same for all lathe programming orientations. The following is another view orientation that
describes inverted VTL machines. But the concept and programming relationships are the same in all cases. It is assumed that the view, in both cases below, is the
view of the WCS XY plane.

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The MCS ZX Plane as the Programming Plane and the ZM The MCS XY Plane as the Programming Plane and the XM
Axis as the Spindle Centerline. Axis as the Spindle Centerline.

Warning When choosing which MCS orientation (ZX or XY) you want to use for programming, be aware that the form of output will be different in each of the two
cases. If you have current postprocessors, they will dictate the form of output that must be produced and, therefore, dictate your choice of MCS
orientation.

Output
The following table shows the output formats to support all spindle orientations for turning, such as horizontal, vertical, inverted vertical, etc. through the listing
output, Post, and CLSF export.

NX Turning Operations
MCS / Spindle environment Internal Tool Path Listing Output Post Output CLSF Output
XM-YM / X-axis spindle (z=zero) x, y, 0 x, y, 0 Z=x, X=y x, y, 0
c, d (c, d, 0)
ZM-XM / Z-axis spindle (y=zero) x, 0, z x, 0, z Z=z, X=x z, x, 0

c, d (c, d, 0)

Legend:
x, y, z lower case indicates the cutter locations in the tool path relative to the MCS.
X, Z upper case indicates the word address output from the post processor (machine coordinates).
c, d indicates that the upper case character above the c/d in the chart (Post Output column) is interpreted as a departure along centerline (c), or a departure to a
diameter (d). In other words, movement is axial (c) or radial (d).

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