Development of an intelligent decision model for non-traditional machining processes

Abstract

In order to fulfil the ever increasing requirements of various hard and difficult-to-machine materials in automobile, turbine, nuclear, aviation, tool and die making industries, the conventional material removal processes are now being continuously substituted by an array of non-traditional machining (NTM) processes. The efficient and improved capabilities of these NTM processes have made them indispensible for the present day manufacturing industries. While deploying a particular NTM process for a specific machining application, the concerned process engineer must be aware of its capability which is influenced by a large number of controllable parameters. In this paper, an intelligent decision model is designed and developed in VBASIC to guide the concerned process engineer to have an idea about the values of various NTM process responses for a given parametric combination. It would also advise about the tentative settings of different NTM process parameters for achieving a set of target response values. It would thus aim in assisting the process engineers and designers to efficiently identify the technically feasible NTM processes in the early design and machining stages, focusing more on developing the required product functionalities and appearance with the feasible processes in mind, utilizing the process characteristics more effectively. The operational procedure of this developed decision model is demonstrated with the help of three real time examples.