A Proposed Algorithm for Optimizing the Toolpoint Path of the Small-Hole EDM-Drilling

The main objective of the present work was to propose a small-hole EDM-drilling methodology using the heuristic search techniques to calculate the optimal toolpoint path that minimizes the small-hole EDM-drilling total machining time. Firstly, the tool points of the small-hole EDM-drilling are formulated as a traveling salesman problem (TSP), and a new heuristic search technique algorithm of guided fast local search (GFLS) is proposed; to find the optimal small-hole EDM-drilling toolpoint path. This optimal toolpoint path; is the path that passes through all toolpoints and has the minimum machining time. The proposed algorithm implemented in Visual C++, and was applied to many examples, the results showed its quickness and robustness.