Experimental investigation of electrode wear assessment in the EDM process using image processing technique

Abstract

One of the widespread non-traditional and non-contact machining processes is the electrical discharge machining (EDM) process, which depends on removing material from the surface by different repeat electrical discharges between a machined workpiece and a cutting tool called the electrode. The electrode wear in the EDM process is one of the parameters of significant technological interest. This article proposed a reliable image-based system that automatically detects and computes electrode wear in EDM of rectangular steel workpiece plate of AISI 314 using a copper electrode with a rectangular shape. MATLAB environment and image processing toolbox are used to identify and manipulate the captured rectangular electrode image for rectangular electrode data extraction needed for the electrode wear identification process. The results show that the proposed image-based approach, using a non-contact measuring system and relatively inexpensive equipment, is suitable with good accuracy and efficiency for measuring and testing electrode wear.