Title: Geometry processing in developing a software tool for NC wire EDM

Authors: Sande Gao; Loulin Huang; Baoling Han

Addresses: Department of Science and Engineering, Iwaki Meisei University, Iwaki City, Fukushima Prefecture 790-8551, Japan ' School of Engineering, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland City 1142, New Zealand ' School of Mechanical and Vehicular Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing City 100081, China

Abstract: Electric discharge machining (EDM) is widely used in mould making and die industries, and is also becoming a popular method for making prototypes and parts in aerospace, automobile and electronics industries. Wire EDM is typically used to cut plates and to make punches, tools and dies from hard metals that are difficult to machine with conventional methods. Although simple contours can be programmed and converted into numerical control (NC) codes for a NC wire EDM machine online, the process is time consuming. Some software can take less time, but cannot handle complex shapes. This paper presents a new software tool that can efficiently convert complex shapes into NC wire EDM programs with a high precision. Geometry processing adopted in the software tool, including view transformation, snapping and breaking algorithms, transformation of arc parameters, and data structure of geometric information is presented.

Keywords: computer aided design; computer aided manufacturing; CADCAM; NC programming; wire EDM; software development; applied geometry; graphics; geometry processing; data structure; electrical discharge machining; electro-discharge machining; numerical control; complex shapes.

DOI: 10.1504/IJCAT.2015.068398

International Journal of Computer Applications in Technology, 2015 Vol.51 No.1, pp.43 - 48

Published online: 01 Apr 2015 *

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