Development of CAD/CAM system for cross section's changing hole electrical discharge machining

Abstract

This study deals with the development of a new CAD/CAM system for fabricating holes whose cross sections change variously. The cross sections of machined holes are generally constant. The limitations in the shapes of holes that can be machined make obstacles in the design stage of industrial products. A new device that utilizes electrical discharge machining has been developed that can create holes with various cross sections to solve this problem. However, it has been impossible to put the device into practical use since there has been no software that has enabled the designed shapes to be easily machined. Therefore, we aimed at developing a new CAD/CAM system for machining the beforehand designed holes with changing cross sections by using the device. As the first step in developing the CAD/CAM system, the post processor in the CAM system is formulated in this paper. Copyright © 2010 by JSME.