Virtual Signal-Based pulse discrimination in Micro-Electro-Discharge machining

Abstract

Owing to the contaminations in the small discharge gap of microelectro-discharge machining (lEDM), generation of nonuniform nature of discharge pulses is more significant than in macroEDM. To address the contribution in material removal of workpiece by each of these pulses, a pulse discriminating (PD) system which discriminates them into contributing and noncontributing types is generally used. Developing a PD system in lEDM is a time-consuming process that requires an availability of continuously running machine. Such requirement could be eliminated if virtual signals, similar to the actual once, are made available and provided continuously to the PD system developer. An innovative idea of generating such virtual signals, based on NI MULTISIM, is, therefore, proposed and a robust PD system based on these signals is developed and validated. The strategy for discriminating the pulses in various types is developed through virtual instrumentation in NI LABVIEW. The robustness is validated in terms of its applicability over a wide range of parametric settings, acquisition length, and time.