Zhi Yang

Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802 e-mail: wityang@gmail.com

Setup Planning Automation for Six-Axis Wire Electrical Discharge Machining

A modern six-axis wire electrical discharge machining (WEDM) system is capable of producing more complex geometries than 2D, 21=2D, or ruled surface parts. The rotational axis on a six-axis WEDM system allows a part to be rotated while using a cutting wire to fabricate it. However, limited automation for process planning six-axis WEDM systems requires signicant time and effort must be put into process planning. Even with commercially-available computer-aided design (CAD) software, it is difcult to produce process plans for a six-axis WEDM system. Toward automatic development of process plans, a method of determining such setup plans, including the number of setup orientations and rotational axis movements, is presented in this paper. Tangent visibility analysis results presented in our prior research are used to guide the setup, and intermediate coordinate systems are dened in order to classify the tangent visibility results. A greedy algorithm is developed to determine the set of intermediate coordinates and setup orientations for six-axis WEDM. [DOI: 10.1115/1.4005801]

Richard A Wysk
Department of Industrial and System Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695

Sanjay Joshi
Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802

Introduction

Over the past several decades, common WEDM parts have been 2D, 21=2D, and those dened by ruled surfaces. Wire path generation for these types of parts is straightforward and can be easily accomplished with commercial software. However, with the development of WEDM systems, faster and more complex machines have become available in the market. A six-axis WEDM system is illustrated in Fig. 1. The combinations of cutting wire movement and rotational axis movement make six-axis WEDM capable of producing products with complex geometries. For such products, one of the major tasks in WEDM operation planning is determining setup orientations, especially when a given geometry requires multiple setups on a six-axis WEDM system. For example, although the model pagoda illustrated in Fig. 2 is manufacturable using six-axis WEDM, automatically determining the setup orientation and the rotational axis that allows the whole pagoda to be fabricated at once is not a straightforward problem. Setup orientation problems for milling processes are widely discussed in the literature and are common in milling process planning. Kang and Suh investigate the problems of determining machinability and part setup orientation for a given surface model [1]. Chen et al. study methods of identifying favorable machining setup orientations for sculptured surface machining [2]. Tang et al. develop an algorithm to determine optimal workpiece setup for a four-axis milling process [3]. In addition to milling processes, setup orientation problems are also discussed in additive rapid prototyping (RP) process research. Cheng et al. develop a multiobjective optimization model to determine the building orientation in additive RP processes [4]. They consider part accuracy, building time, and part stability as objectives in their optimization model which are broadly used in later research. Multiple objectives are also generally considered in orientation determination research [58]. Frank et al. developed a method to determine slicing orientation in order to automate tool path generation [9]. Yang et al. mentioned setup plans for wire EDM but no detail method is

provided. Very limited research focuses on determining setup orientations for WEDM systems due to the following facts: (1) A majority of WEDM parts are 2D, 21=2D, and those dened by rule surface, hence, the setup orientation problem is trivial to solve. Most parts can be nished in one setup without moving the rotational axis. (2) Machines with a rotational axis (B-axis) have only been on the market for several years. Despite the fact that the B-axis makes WEDM systems capable of producing complex geometries, limited research has focused on B-axis planning and setup issues for six-axis WEDM. In this paper, an algorithm is developed to determine workpiece setup orientations and rotational axis movements for sixaxis WEDM. The orientation determination algorithm is developed based on our previous global tangent visibility analysis for six-axis WEDM [10]. In this paper, tangent visibility analysis results will be explained. Then, the algorithm for determining setup orientation and rotational axis movements will be discussed in detail.

Problems and Solution Approach

Contributed by the Manufacturing Engineering Division of ASME for publication in the JOURNAL OF MANUFACTURING ENGINEERING. Manuscript received February 1, 2011; nal manuscript received December 3, 2011; published online March 30, 2012. Assoc. Editor: Bin Wei.

Visibility analysis is a common approach to solving setup orientation problems. It is not a trivial problem. Determining the setup orientation for a milling process requires visibility analysis to support the procedure, and six-axis WEDM is no exception. In fact, the literature has established that the visibility problem is generally solved using a visibility map or a global visibility cone. Nevertheless, a majority of visibility problems can be dened as being point-to-point in nature. A point is visible if a straight line segment (on the visibility map), or a ray orienting from the point (in the visibility cone), does not intersect with any other object. Researchers have used the visibility map and global visibility cone orientations as cutting tool orientations for accessing and fabricating products. On the other hand, the cutting tools for inline cut systems (such as the cutting wires in WEDM systems) access parts tangentially, requiring an entire straight line to be free of intersections. It is important to note, then, that the current visibility map or global visibility cone methods are not directly applicable to visibility problems inherent in in-line cut systems. A global tangent visibility analysis study is performed and discussed APRIL 2012, Vol. 134 / 021009-1

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Fig. 1 Six-axis wire electrical discharge machining design

in detail in Ref. [10]. In this paper, a methodology using global tangent visibility results to determine favorable setup orientations and manufacturing coordinates is presented. 2.1 Interpretation of Global Tangent Visibility Results. Global tangent visibility results can be classied into two types: rectangle and triangle. Details about global tangent visibility explanation can be found in Ref. [10]. In Figs. 3 and 4, an example is given to demonstrate global tangent visibility result for a given 2D planar surface. Polygon P is illustrated in Fig. 3(a). A triangle result is formed by two straight lines. The two straight lines are intersected at one of the vertices on polygon P in Fig. 3(b), the straight lines v01 v1 and v10 v11 are intersected at vertex v11 . The shaded area in Fig. 3(b) is the tangent visible region covered by the two straight lines. A rectangle result is formed by two parallel straight lines. In Fig. 3(c), the straight lines v12 v11 and v7 v4 are parallel with each other. The shaded area is the tangent visible region covered by the two parallel straight lines. Figure 4 illustrates the polygon visibility combination procedure. The shaded area in Fig. 4 is the tangent visible area for the given polygon P. The whole area is the result of the polygon combination procedure; each polygon is either a rectangle or triangle result.

Fig. 3

Global tangent visibility results

Fig. 2

A model pagoda

2.2 Setup Panning for Six-Axis WEDM. In order to translate the visibility result into useful manufacturing information that can be used to automate wire path generation, the setup plans Transactions of the ASME

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Fig. 4 The polygon combination procedure

must rst be investigated. Setup planning for six-axis WEDM can be divided into the following two major tasks: (1) determining the part orientation, and (2) planning rotational axis (B-axis) movements. In order to accomplish those two tasks automatically, two problems need to be addressed:

WEDM, and Sec. 5 will provide implementation and illustrative examples.

Manufacturing Coordinate Systems

Movement cooperation: The cutting tool for a WEDM system is a straight cutting wire. The rotational capability on a sixaxis WEDM system comes from the rotational axis of the workpiece instead of the cutting wire. Due to the machines physical limitations, the cutting wire movement range is restricted. In order to access all tangent visible regions, the movement of the cutting wire and the rotational movement of the producing part must be properly coordinated. Coordinate transformation: The coordinate system for the global tangent visibility result is based on the coordinate system of the input geometry. Therefore, the coordinates used to dene the tangent visible regions are the same as the coordinates of the input geometry. However, the coordinates required to build a part should be based on the WEDM system being used. A coordinate transformation approach must be dened in order to convert visibility results from input geometry coordinates into nal manufacturing coordinates.

3.1 Basic Definitions. In this research, a series of manufacturing coordinates are dened to classify tangent visibility straight lines into several categories. Under each set of manufacturing coordinates, the cutting wire can access all tangent visible regions without moving the rotational axis. Each coordinate system is dened by three vectors: (1) rotational norm, (2) rotational orientation, and (3) orientation product. Figure 5 illustrates the relationships among rotational norm RN , rotational orientation RO , and orientation product OP . Each of these vectors has a physical meaning. Rotational norm RN is same as the rotational axis on a six-axis WEDM system or other rotary axis. The direction of the rotation is dened using right hand rule: the ngers of the right

As discussed in Sec. 2.1, the tangent visibility results can be simplied into either parallel or intersecting straight lines. Using a greedy algorithm, those straight lines are then classied into different straight line groups called intermediate coordinates. Each intermediate coordinate contains information regarding the setup orientation and rotational axis plan. Thus, the setup plans for sixaxis WEDM are accomplished using this straight line classication procedure. Based on the discussion above, this paper will be organized as follows. In Sec. 3, manufacturing coordinate systems used in this research will be discussed, and the method for classifying straight lines into different coordinates will be introduced. Section 4 will present the algorithm to determine setup plans for six-axis Journal of Manufacturing Science and Engineering

Fig. 5

A coordinate system for WEDM-RP

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Fig. 6

Denitions of RN and RO

hand are curled to match the rotation motion, and the thumb indicates the direction of the vector. Denition 1. A rotational norm (RN ) is a unit vector that starts at the center of mass for the given geometry. Denition 2. A rotational orientation (RO ) is a unit vector that is perpendicular to the rotational norm RN . It is also a vector that starts at the center of mass of the given geometry. Denition 3. An orientation product (OP ) is the cross-product of a rotational norm RN and a rotational orientation RO (i.e., OP RN RO ). Denition 4. Manufacturing coordinates are the coordinates used on WEDM systems. All wire path information should be generated using manufacturing coordinates so the input geometry can be fabricated on WEDM systems. Denition 5. Intermediate coordinates make up the coordinate system dened by rotational orientation RO , rotational norm RN , and orientation product OP .. In this research, a series of intermediate coordinate systems are created to classify the cutting wire path information, which will be discussed in detail in Sec. 3.2. These intermediate coordinates are then translated into manufacturing coordinates along with the cutting wire path information. For example, Fig. 6 illustrates an example of a rotational norm. For each given rotational norm (RN ), a series of rotational orientations (RO ) is dened, as illustrated in Fig. 6. Each rotational orientation (RO ) is used to indicate the position of the rotary axis under a certain coordinate. The orientation product (OP ) represents the ideal neutral position of the cutting wire. Based on the physical limitations of a WEDM system, the cutting wire can only rotate in a restricted area around the orientation product (OP ). For example, Fig. 7 demonstrates the result of extending the visibility straight line results of the model pagoda. In order to cover the tangent visible regions using a cutting wire, the cutting wire should follow the straight line orientations. However, the cutting wire on a six-axis WEDM system can only rotate a certain amount from its natural position due to taper angle limitations. In Fig. 7, the visibility results are clear in several groups. In each group, a neutral wire position exists, which can be used as the orientation product (OP ) for one set of intermediate coordinates. In this research, the visibility straight lines are classied into groups. In each group, those straight lines form an angle with a given physical limitation based on the neutral wire position for the group. The physical limitation is the taper angle limitation associated with the WEDM system. After the classication procedure, each straight line group is classied into a set of intermediate coordinates which are then translated into nal manufacturing coordinates. Figure 8 provides examples of intermediate coordinates and manufacturing coordinates. Surface 1 is tangent visible and can be accessed using the manufacturing coordinate. Surface 2 is also tangent visible, but the wire orientation is under the intermediate coordinate. In order 021009-4 / Vol. 134, APRIL 2012
Fig. 7 Visibility straight line results for pagoda model

to access Surface 2 using a physical cutting wire, the rotary chuck must rotate so RO of the intermediate coordinate is horizontal to the manufacturing coordinate. Mathematically, in order to change the wire orientation to the neutral wire position, the intermediate coordinate system must be translated into a manufacturing coordinate system. In WEDM-RP, the translation of tangent visibility results into manufacturing information is a procedure which classies the cutting wire orientation and transforms the intermediate coordinate system into a manufacturing coordinate system. In order to transform the intermediate coordinate system into the nal manufacturing coordinates, the center of mass (the origin of the intermediate coordinates), must be translated. The rotational norm RN must also be translated to the X-axis. Assuming that the center of mass is PCM , then the wire orientation for the intermediate coordinate is P, the rotational norm for the intermediate coordinate is RN , and the rotational orientation is RO . The new wire orientation Pnew in the manufacturing coordinate can be calculated by Pnew P T PCM (1)

where T is the transformation matrix which can be calculated by:

Fig. 8 Example of an intermediate coordinate and a manufacturing coordinate

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3 xx xy 1 cos h xz sin h xx xz 1 cos h xy sin h cos h x2 x 1 cos h 2 cos h xy 1 cos h xz xy 1 cos h xx sin h 5 T 4 xz sin h xx xy 1 cos h xx xz 1 cos h xy sin h xx sin h xz xy 1 cos h cos h x2 z 1 cos h where x RN 1; 0; 0, h RN 1; 0; 0

3.2 Classification of Tangent Visibility Results. Based on the discussion in Sec. 2, since the global tangent visibility result contains only triangle and rectangle shapes, the straight lines that cover those shapes will be used as cutting wire orientations to guide manufacturing. Due to the fact that the coordinates of the tangent visibility result are based on the input geometry coordinates of the part, those straight lines need to be classied into intermediate coordinate systems before they can be translated into manufacturing coordinates. In this section, the methods of classifying those straight lines into different intermediate coordinate systems are discussed. 3.2.1 Classification of Normal Straight Lines. All triangle or rectangle shapes require straight lines to cover them. For example, each triangle shape illustrated in Fig. 3(b) requires two straight lines to cover the whole triangle. The two straight lines are the starting cutting line and the ending cutting line. Several lemmas are introduced in order to classify those lines under a certain intermediate coordinate. Lemma 1. A straight line will cover a shape for a certain RN if the line forms an angle with RN between 90 a; 90 a, where a is the taper angle limitation for WEDM systems. Proof. Due to physical limitations associated with WEDM systems, the maximum angle between the edge and the neutral wire position is a. Under a certain intermediate coordinate system, the angle range between the orientation product vector (OP ) and the line is a; a. If the lines are normalized and the starting points of the lines are moved to center of the mass (as illustrated in Fig. 9), all edges that are located in the cone space are coverable under the current intermediate coordinate system. Because OP RN RO , OP is perpendicular to RN . As a result, if any edge forms an angle between 90 a; 90 a with RN , then the line will cover the shape under the current intermediate coordinate system.

Lemma 2. In 3D space, the number of rotational norms (RN ) required to cover all possible straight lines is d90 ae, where a is the taper angle limitation for the WEDM system. Proof. If we normalize all lines and translate their starting point to the center of a mass, then all lines in 3D will form a unit sphere with its center at the center of the mass. According to Lemma 1, all coverable lines for a given RN are shown in Fig. 10(a). Each RN is capable of covering 2a degree of lines, as illustrated in Fig. 10(b). Clearly, if a whole sphere of edges must be covered, we only need d360 2 2 aed90 ae number of RN . 3.2.2 Classification of Polygons Without Concave Edges. A special group of polygons does not require global tangent visibility analysis due to the absence of concave edges on their intersection graphs. For example, Polygon 25 does not contain any concave edges on its intersection graph, shown in Fig. 11. In order to cover the whole area of Polygon 25, several possible combinations can be used. Two possible combinations are illustrated in the gure. Due to the absence of concave edges, any straight line on the surface of Polygon 25 can serve as the cutting wire orientation. Both line sets 1 and 2 are capable of covering the whole area of the polygon. In order to simplify the translation procedure from

Fig. 9

Edge and RN Relationship

Fig. 10 All coverable lines under certain rotational norms (RN )

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Fig. 13 Coverable polygon norms for a given OP Fig. 11 Example of a polygon without concave edges

tangent visibility results into manufacturing information, the big rectangle approach is used by nding any two parallel straight lines that are capable of covering the whole area of the given polygon without concave edges. For example, line set 1 in Fig. 11 is formed by two parallel straight lines, and serves as a feasible solution, covering the polygon. As discussed above, the number of feasible solutions for these rectangle shapes is innite. A certain edge orientation for the rectangle shape still needs to be determined in order to translate the tangent visibility results into manufacturing information. Several lemmas are introduced in order to classify those polygons without concave edges under a certain intermediate coordinate system. Lemma 3. A polygon without concave edges is coverable for a certain RN RO intermediate coordinate if the polygon norm forms an angle with OP RN RO between 90 a; 90 a, where a is the taper angle limitation for a WEDM system. Proof. For a given polygon norm, a valid wire orientation is perpendicular to the facet norm. So, if the angle between the polygon norm and the orientation product OP is between a; a then, as illustrated in Fig. 12, the polygon is coverable under the current intermediate coordinate system.

Lemma 4. Only d90 ae number of rotational orientations RO under any RN is required to cover all possible polygons in 3D space, where a is the taper angle limitation for the WEDM system. Proof. In 3D, if the starting points of all polygon norms are translated to the center of a mass, then all polygon norms will form a unit globe with its center at the center of that mass. According to Lemma 3, all coverable polygon norms for a given OP are shown in Fig. 13. Each OP is capable of covering 2a degrees of an edge. Clearly, if covering a whole globe of edges is required, then only d360 2 2 ae d90 ae number of orientation products OP is needed.

Algorithm to Determine Setup Plan

Based on the discussion in Sec. 3, the tangent visibility results can be classied into several intermediate coordinates and then translated into manufacturing coordinates. Based on Lemmas 1 and 2, d90 ae number of rotational norms RN are capable of covering all possible straight lines in 3D space. Based on Lemmas 3 and 4, d90 ae number of orientation products OP under any RN is enough to cover all polygons without concave edges. In this section, an algorithm to determine one set of intermediate coordinate systems is presented such that the number of trial setups is minimized.

Fig. 12 Facet norm and OP relationship

Fig. 14 Flowchart for determining intermediate coordinate systems

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Fig. 15 An example of an initial RO with its R0N s

Based on the lemmas in Sec. 3, in order to nd the set of intermediate coordinates, the most important vectors to dene are the rotational norms RN . With properly dened rotational norms, all possible edges in 3D space and polygons without concave edges can be covered. Based on the denitions of rotational norm, rotational orientation, and orientation product, an intermediate coordinate system requires at least two out of the three vectors, and the third vector is the cross-product resulting from the two known vectors. An overall owchart on how to determine the intermediate coordinate system by determining the rotational norm RO and rotational orientation RO is presented. The owchart is illustrated in Fig. 14. In this calculation procedure, a greedy algorithm is applied to calculate two initial vectors, initial RN and initial RO . The intermediate coordinates formed by initial RN and initial RO will cover most of the tangent visible areas of the given geometry. Based on

Fig. 16 An example of an initial RN with its R0O s

the two initial vectors, d90 ae norms are calculated by rotating initial RN around initial RO . Each rotational norm forms a 2a angle with its neighbor rotational norms. For instance, in Fig. 15, the taper angle, a 20 deg, d90 ae d90 20e 5 RN s dened around the initial RO . Each RN forms a 40 deg angle with its neighbor rotational norms. Based on Lemma 1, for any given RN , only d90 ae intermediate coordinate systems are required to cover all polygons without concave edges. Consequently, we build d90 ae evenly distributed RO vectors around the initial RN . Each rotational orientation RO forms a 2a angle with its neighbor rotational orientations. For

Fig. 17

Flowchart for calculating initial RN

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Fig. 18 Flowchart for calculating initial RO

example, in Fig. 16, the taper angle a 20 deg, d90 ae d90 20e 5 RO s dened around the initial RN . Each RO forms a 40 deg angle with its neighbor rotational orientations. The owchart for calculating initial RN is illustrated in Fig. 17. In this procedure, a list of initial RN candidates is generated. For each facet or polygon with concave edges, the facet or polygon norm is used as a potential initial RN and saved into the RnList. The total area that is reachable under each initial RN candidate is calculated, and the nal initial RN is the one that has the maximum reachable total area. The initial rotational orientation RO is a unit vector that is perpendicular to the initial RN . The owchart for calculating initial RO is presented in Fig. 18. In this procedure, all polygon norms which are perpendicular to the initial RN are candidates for initial RO . Those candidates are grouped together if the norms coincide. For each group of polygons, the total area is calculated. The nal initial RO is the group norm with the maximum total area. If no polygon has a norm that is perpendicular to the initial RN , the initial RO will be an arbitrary vector that is perpendicular to the initial RN . After calculating d90 ae number of rotational norms RN and d90 ae number of rotational orientations RO based on the initial RN , the resulting intermediate coordinate systems are able to cover all polygons without concave edges. More intermediate coordinate systems may need to be dened using the d90 ae number of RN calculation in order to cover all possible edges

from the tangent visibility results. A classication procedure is then used to classify the tangent visibility results under different intermediate coordinate systems. Figure 19 illustrates the owchart for classifying tangent visibility results into different coordinate systems. As discussed in Sec. 2, there are three types of tangent visibility results: rectangle results, triangle results, and polygons without concave edges. For a rectangle result, if a straight line denes the shape it can be covered under an intermediate coordinate. For a triangle result, each shape is formed by two straight lines, and an intermediate coordinate can be determined for each edge. A procedure called FindRNRoEdge is dened to determine the intermediate coordinate system for a given edge. The owchart for FindRNRoEdge is illustrated in Fig. 20. The third type of tangent visibility result is a polygon without concave edges. As discussed in Sec. 3.2, there are an innite number of feasible solutions to cover these polygons. Based on Lemma 4, we need only to nd one RN for these polygons. Due to the fact that any d90 ae number of rotational orientations RO under any given rotational norm RN is capable of covering all polygons without concave edges, the initial RN and its rst predened d90 ae number of rotational orientations RO will be used. A function named FindRNRoFct is dened to classify the polygon without concave edges into different intermediate coordinates.

Fig. 19

Flowchart for classication of tangent visibility results

Fig. 20 Flowchart for FindRNRoEdge procedure

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Fig. 21

Details for FindRNRoFct

In the FindRNRoFct procedure, the angle between the input polygon norm and predened OP under initial RN is calculated. Based on Lemma, the OP forming an angle with the input edge between 90 a; 90 a will be selected. Detailed information regarding this procedure is shown in Fig. 21.

Implementation and Illustrative Examples

R

Fig. 22

Slot model

In the FindRNRoEdge procedure, the angle between the input edge and predened RN are calculated. Based on Lemma 1, the RN forming an angle with the input edge between 90 a; 90 a will be selected. The angle between the input edge and existing orientation product OP under the current RN is calculated; the OP that forms an angle with the input edge between 0; a or 180 a; 180 is selected. In case no existing OP satises this requirement, a new OP is calculated by the cross-product of the input edge and the rotational norm RN . This procedure returns the RN and RO that form the intermediate coordinate system to cover the edge.

The WEDM-RP algorithms were implemented in VC.NET 2005 and tested on an IntelV CoreTM2 Duo 2.60 GHZ PC, running WINDOWS XP. The software accepts American Standard Code for Information Interchange stereolithography (ASCII STL) les as input and creates numerical control code as output. The following are also input parameters for a six-axis WEDM system: taper angle, distance between UV, and XY planes, STL le accuracy level, maximum height and maximum width, and wire path incremental accuracy. Recall that the taper angle is the maximum angle to which the cutting wire can rotate from its neutral position. The STL le accuracy level is used to deal with round-up errors in the co-planar triangle combination procedure. The distance between the UV and XY planes, and the maximum height and maximum width of the six-axis WEDM system are the parameters used to generate the wire path. Figures 22 through 25 give four examples of setup planning for a six-axis WEDM system. Figure 22 illustrates a slot part with its coordinate system. The part orientation algorithm determines that this part requires one setup and two rotational operations. The part is set up along RN 1 and the rotational axis has two positions, RO 1 and RO 2, whereby all the fabrication operations are nished. Figure 23 shows a slot model with an island. This part requires one setup to nish all fabrication operations on a six-axis

Fig. 23 Slot island model

Fig. 24

Model pagoda

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Fig. 26 Manufacturing setup

Conclusion

In this research, we present a method of interpreting tangent visibility results. An algorithm to determine one set of intermediate coordinate systems is also developed. A tangent visibility result is classied into a set of intermediate coordinates such that the total number of trial setups is minimized. After determining the required rotational norms and rotational orientations, the setup plan is ready for six-axis WEDM. Each rotational norm represents a part setup orientation in the nal manufacturing procedure. Each rotational orientation can be used to guide the rotational axis on a six-axis WEDM system. The setup plans generated by this research not only contain setup orientations, but also rotational axis movement information. The rotational axis movement information makes wire path generation automation for a true six-axis WEDM process possible. Detailed information about wire path generation for six-axis WEDM will be presented in future research.

References
Fig. 25 Gear model
[1] Kang, J.-K., and Suh, S.-H., 1997, Machinability and Set-Up Orientation for Five-Axis Numerically Controlled Machining of Free Surfaces, Int. J. Adv. Manuf. Technol., 13(5), pp. 311325. [2] Chen, Z. C., Dong, Z., and Vickers, G. W., 2003, Automated Surface Subdivision and Tool Path Generation for 3 1=2 1=2-Axis CNC Machining of Sculptured Parts, Comput. Ind., 50(3), pp. 319331. [3] Tang, K., Chen, L.-L., and Chou, S.-Y., 1998, Optimal Workpiece Setups for 4-Axis Numerical Control Machining Based on Machinability, Comput. Ind., 37, pp. 2741. [4] Cheng, W., Fuh, J. Y. H., Nee, A. Y. C., Wong, Y. S., Loh, H. T., and Miyazawa, T., 1995, Multi-Objective Optimization of Part-Building Orientation in Stereolithography, Rapid Prototyping J., 1(4), pp. 1223. [5] Byun, H.-S., and Lee, K. H., 2006, Determination of the Optimal Build Direction for Different Rapid Prototyping Processes Using Multi-Criterion Decision Making, Rob. Comput.-Integr. Manufact., 22(1), pp. 6980. [6] Hu, Z., Lee, K., and Hur, J., 2002, Determination of Optimal Build Orientation for Hybrid Rapid-Prototyping, J. Mater. Process. Technol., 130131, pp. 378383. [7] Masood, S. H., and Rattanawong, W., 2002, A Generic Part Orientation System Based on Volumetric Error in Rapid Prototyping, Int. J. Adv. Manuf. Technol., 19(3), pp. 209216. [8] Xu, F., Wong, Y. S., Loh, H. T., Fuh, J. Y. H., and Miyazawa, T., 1997, Optimal Orientation With Variable Slicing in Stereolithography, Rapid Prototyping J., 3(3), pp. 7688. [9] Frank, M. C., Wysk, R. A., and Joshi, S. B., 2006, Determining Setup Orientations From the Visibility of Slice Geometry for Rapid Computer Numerically Controlled Machining, ASME J. Manuf. Sci. Eng., 128(1), pp. 228238. [10] Yang, Z., Wysk, R. A., and Joshi, S., 2011, Global Tangent Visibility Analysis for Polyhedral Computer Aided Design Models, ASME J. Manuf. Sci. Eng., 133(3), 031012.

WEDM system. The B-axis requires four rotations following rotational orientation RO 1RO 4. Figure 24 illustrates a model pagoda, a more complex pa rt, with its coordinate system. According to the part orientation algorithm, one setup and four rotational operations are required for this part. The pagoda is set up along RN 1, and the rotational axis has four positions, RO 1, RO 2, RO 3, and RO 4 whereby all the fabrication operations are nished. Figure 25 shows a gear model requiring two setups to nish all fabrication. Setup orientation 1 enables gear shaft fabrication, as shown in Fig. 25(a). Under this setup orientation, ve rotational orientations guide the B-axis movement. Setup orientation 2 enables gear fabrication, as illustrated in Fig. 25(b). No B-axis rotation is required under setup orientation 2. Figure 26 demonstrates the manufacturing setup for the model pagoda. The rotational norm RN 1 is aligned with the rotational axis (B-axis) on the six-axis WEDM system. The rotational axis on the WEDM system rotates to one of the four rotational orientation RO i positions and the cutting wire cuts all tangent visible portions under each position.

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