Computer-aided process planning for EDM operations

This paper describes a computer-aided process planning system for electrical discharge machining (EDM). Input to the system is a workpiece description based on process planning features. New process planning feature types have been defined because existing standards such as the CAM-1 feature catalog only describe features for prismatic parts. Each feature is characterized by a generic process plan. Generic process plans define possible manufacturing operations that can be applied to a feature. The developed process planning system evaluates the generic process plans of all features included in the workpiece description and combines them to an optimal process plan based on minimal cost. A general strategy to estimate EDM machining times is presented.