Title: Radial gap measurement and manufacturing error evaluation for small hole machined by micro-EDM

Authors: Zhenyuan Jia, Xinyi Zheng, Fuji Wang, Wei Liu

Addresses: Key laboratory for Precision and Non-Traditional Machining of Ministry of Education, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, Liaoning 116023, P.R. China. ' Key laboratory for Precision and Non-Traditional Machining of Ministry of Education, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, Liaoning 116023, P.R. China. ' Key laboratory for Precision and Non-Traditional Machining of Ministry of Education, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, Liaoning 116023, P.R. China. ' Key laboratory for Precision and Non-Traditional Machining of Ministry of Education, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, Liaoning 116023, P.R. China

Abstract: In the micro electrical discharge machining (micro-EDM) processing of small hole, measurement of the radial machining gap and evaluating the machining error are difficult. A novel method is proposed for the gap measurement and error evaluation of roundness and position. The method combines the micrograph image processing technology with the searching algorithm of pixel-by-pixel comparison. Measurement examples of three small holes machined in different material workpieces are carried out, and the radial gap distribution, roundness error and position error of the holes are obtained. Furthermore, the maximum relative error of gap measurement and roundness evaluation are 6.84% and 6.72%, respectively. The measurement results and error analyses indicate that the measurement method is effective and accurate.

Keywords: digital image processing; small hole; electrical discharge machining; micro EDM; electro-discharge machining; radial machining gap; roundness errors; position errors; error evaluation; small holes; gap measurement.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMTM.2011.038712

International Journal of Manufacturing Technology and Management, 2011 Vol.22 No.2, pp.94 - 106

Published online: 27 Nov 2014 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article