ARTICLE IN PRESS

Control Engineering Practice 13 (2005) 95104

Mixed H2/HN optimization approach to gap control on EDM

Yih-Fang Chang*
Department of Mechanical and Automation Engineering, Dayeh University, 112 Shan-Jiau Rd. Da-Tsuen, Changhua, Taiwan, ROC
Received 15 November 2002; accepted 23 February 2004

Abstract
A robust proportional plus derivative (PD) controller of the gap between an electrode and a workpiece is designed to tolerate the
bounded gain variation related to the generation of powder in the gap and the nonlinearity of the feedback signal. The robustness
dened by HN shows that the robust PD controller can tolerate the nonlinear and time-varying feedback signals. As shown, the
performance of H2 ; under a constraint on HN robustness, the proposed PD controller exhibits optimal tracking performance. The
gain parameters of the PD controller that maximize tness, as specied by the inverse of the integral of the squared error, given a
step input to the system, can be determined quickly and accurately using genetic algorithms (GAs). The control performance and the
rate of erosion of die-sinking electric discharge machinings are conrmed to follow from the proposed design procedure.
r 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Robust performance; PD controllers; Nonlinear systems; Time-varying systems; Genetic algorithms; Machining; Electric discharge
machine

I. Introduction
Die-sinking electric discharge machines (EDMs),
electric discharge scanning machines (EDSMs) and
wire-cutting electric discharge machines (WEDMs) are
frequently used in machining modes. The period of
machining is quite long because the metal removal rate
(MMR) is low. When an intermittent, high voltage is
applied between the electrode and the workpiece, the
EDMing process occurs in the gap between them, and
the workpiece material must be removed from the gap.
The removal rate depends on the gap between the
electrode and the workpiece, which declines as the gap
becomes longer, and becomes zero when the gap is
sufciently large. The rapid and stochastic generation of
the metal and carbon particles always disturbs the gap in
which they are generated and cannot easily escape.
Therefore, a servo controller, depicted in Fig. 1, cannot
drive the electrode toward the workpiece at a constant
feed rate, unlike conventional machine tools (Reda,
1979; Meyer, 1987).
During EDMing, the effective pattern of the discharge pulses shown in Fig. 2 consists of a supplied
*Corresponding author. Tel.: +886-485-118-882462; fax: +886485-112-24.
E-mail address: yfchang@mail.dyu.edu.tw (Y.-F. Chang).
0967-0661/$ - see front matter r 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.conengprac.2004.02.007

voltage during ON time Ton and a break down voltage

during OFF time Toff : At the beginning of the supply of
the voltage, the circuit is open during an ignition delay
Td : The supplied voltage is then increased because the
electrode is insulated from the workpiece. The spark
discharge and the erosion can occur when the voltage is
sufciently high and the gap is sufciently narrow. Some
metal and carbon powder is produced in the gap. The
electrode should be held in a position that prevents short
circuits or termination of the discharge. The gap should
be cleaned and cooled by uid convection during the
OFF time and the electrode is insulated from the
workpiece again. The different operational parameters,
Ton and Toff ; are set by an operator according to the
desired machining results. However, the delay Td during
the open circuit depends on the insulation in the gap.
Typically, the delay Td increases with the length of the
gap. The discharge efciency is low when Td is long. The
fall in Td indicates that the gap is narrow and the
powder cannot easily escape. A suitable delay is required
to maintain the discharge.
When the material is removed or the powder cover the
eroded surface, the position of the electrode must be
controlled to maintain the ignition delay and the
discharge process, as depicted in Fig. 1. The gap length
cannot be accurately measured during erosion, so the
characteristics of the discharge voltage, including a

ARTICLE IN PRESS
Y.-F. Chang / Control Engineering Practice 13 (2005) 95104

96
.
e(s)

r(s)

Gap
Controller

fr(s)

Discharge
Power
Supply

Servo
Drives

Interpolator

+
+
y(s)

Pulse
Characteristics
Detector

Electrode
_

de (s)
Workpiece

Fig. 1. Practical gap control system of a CNC EDM.

Td

1>

T
Ton

1) Ch 2:

Toff

20 Volt 200 us

Fig. 2. Pattern of discharge pulses.

percentage of the ignition delay Td % 100Td =Ton %;

or the ltered discharge voltage, are fed back to control
the gap. The operator typically sets the reference rs in
the control loop and the controller regulates the position
of the electrode to maintain the ignition delay. Td %
increases with the gap length and saturates at the full
100% of the discharge pulse. A short gap yields a small
Td %; which vanishes if the electrode contacts the
workpiece. The powder generated in the gap also
disturbs the feedback signals. The stability of the system
cannot be analyzed by applying a traditional stability
criterion, such as that of Routh (Stefani, Savant,
Shahian, & Hostetter, 1994; Chen, 1984).
The adaptive control algorithms that regulate the
operating parameters can improve productivity when a
shallow round hole has been formed by erosion.
Although optimal operating parameters, including
adaptive gain parameters and adaptive jump-downtime, can be maintained by applying the adaptive
control algorithm (Rajurkar & Wang, 1989, 1990; Wang
& Rajurkar, 1992, 1997; Wang, Rajurkar, & Akamatsu,
1995), the performance of the transient response remains
insufcient to support abrupt changes in feedback gain.
A rapidly varying gain disturbance generates an oscillation that affects the stability of the system. Inferior
control performance reduces the effective discharge time
and increases the machining time. The oscillation and
dullness of the electrode reduce the speed of erosion

during EDMing. Given rapid particle generation, the

feedback gain varies stochastically within certain
bounds. Therefore, the feedback gain can be treated as
a bounded nonlinear and time-varying gain. The
robustness of the system must be analyzed. Even when
simple proportional plus derivative (PD) controllers are
used in EDMs, obtaining simple robust stability is very
important in determining the gain parameters that are
sufciently reliable to tolerate such a feedback perturbation while responding quickly to maintain the rate of
erosion.
Mixed H2 =HN controllers respond quite quickly and
are rather robust under perturbations of parameters and
uncertain disturbances (Doyle, Zhou, & Bodenheimer,
1989; Khargonekar & Rotea, 1991). However, conventional output feedback designs with mixed H2 =HN
optimal control are very complex and not easily
implemented in practical industrial applications. A
genetic method for designing practical PID controllers
for use in several industrial applications can easily yield
the optimal gain parameters of a controller (Chen,
Cheng, & Lee, 1995).
When the nonlinear and time-varying gain is expressed as a average value and a perturbation, a large
robust performance control system can be obtained by
applying the HN robust stability criterion (Chen et al.,
1995; Doyle, Francis, & Tannenbaum, 1992). The
objective H2 ; specied by the integral of the square of
the error, is also considered to improve the tracking
performance under the proposed maximal robust
stability constraint (Chen et al., 1995; Doyle et al.,
1992). Determining the gain parameters for optimal
robustness in the search space is difcult because the
search space of the object function cannot be guaranteed
to be differentiable and continuous. Genetic algorithms
(GAs) (Holland, 1962; Goldberg, 1989) are useful when
the closed-form optimization technique cannot be
applied since they simultaneously evaluate several points
in the parameter space. This work applies GAs to search
for the gain parameters in the PD controller that
optimize tracking performance, subject to the robustness constraint. The simulation is veried with reference
to the actual erosion of a commercial die-sinking EDM.
Optimal robust performance can be obtained with high
transient performance of tracking speed and allowable
robustness against feedback disturbance, using the
proposed design procedure.

2. Model of the gap control system

The gap controller provides a controlled feed rate
governed by the feedback pulse characteristics, to ensure
the continuity of the discharge. As shown in Fig. 1, a
gap control system is installed in the computerized
numerical controller (CNC) of an EDM. The pulse

ARTICLE IN PRESS
Y.-F. Chang / Control Engineering Practice 13 (2005) 95104

characteristic detector can translate discharge signals, as

shown in Fig. 2, into a percentage of the ignition delay,
Td %; or into a ltered voltage. During the EDMing of a
deep hole, the powder cannot easily escape. The
feedback gain uctuates and the electrode oscillates, as
shown in Fig. 3. The effective discharge cannot be
continuous in the gap so the rate of erosion falls. A
model should be developed to realize the perturbation of
the system and analyze its robustness.
The gap controller receives the transferred signals
and then generates a corresponding feed rate to be
used in the interpolator in the CNC. The interpolator
separates the feed rate tangential to a curve into
various feed rates of every axis using the interpolation
algorithm (Koren, 1976). When the electrode moves
along a line, the interpolator generates the speeds
along every axis from the unit vector of each axis.
The interpolator requires a positive feed rate fr s to
drive the electrode forward to the programmed end
position. When the resulting velocity V s is measured at
the eroded surface of the workpiece, the velocity is
negative. The dynamic relationship between the feed
rate fr s and the speed V s can be expressed as (Masory
& Koren, 1985),
V s

ks
fr s;
s2 2xon s o2n

where ks is a magnication constant. The terms x and on

are the damping ratio and the natural frequency of the
servo drives, respectively.
The gap controller Hs supplies a feed rate fr s to the
interpolator, as determined by the deviation es:
fr s Hs es:

The deviation es between the reference rs and the

feedback signal ys is expressed as follows to yield a
positive value, since the feedback signals ys are usually
transformed into a large positive signal in the detecting

97

circuit when the eroded gap is wide

es ys  rs:

When the electrode is driven toward the workpiece,

following the dynamic Eq. (1), the uncut gap length,
ds; measured from the original surface of the workpiece, varies as determined by the following dynamic
equation:
1
4
ds V s;
s
which is the integral of the actual speed V s and also
expresses the actual position of the electrode. However,
the loss of metal from the workpiece and the electrode
increases the actual gap length de s: The actual gap
length de s increases as follows:
de s ds dm s dd s;

where dm s represents the summation of the reduced

length of the removed electrode and workpiece, measured from the initially eroded surface. The metal
removal rate dm s is much lower than the rate of
response of the gap control system, and so is neglected
in the design. The particles will disturb the length of the
eroded gap when they quickly enter the gap or escape
from it. The disturbed distance dd s species the
stochastic behavior in the gap.
The relationship between the actual gap length de s
and the feedback signal ys is expressed as a saturation
type of nonlinearity. Meanwhile, the relationship is also
perturbed by the time-varying distance dd s: Fig. 4
shows the actual measurement that determines the
relationship between the uncut gap length, ds; and
the feedback signal, ys: Given the saturation of the
discharge voltage and the perturbation of the particles,
the feedback signal ys can be expressed as
ys Nds;

where N is the nonlinear and time-varying gain. This

disturbance is considered in relation to the nonlinear
and time-varying disturbed element DN : For convenience of analysis of the robustness of the system, the
feedback signal ys is given by
ys Nc 1 DN ds;

45

Nc=2.125V/m

40

T
y[V]

35
30
25
20

1>

15
10
5
0

1) Ch 2:

2 Volt 200 ms

Fig. 3. Position response during electrical discharge machining

(kp 22; kd 0).

10

20

d [m]

Fig. 4. Gain distribution of the feedback device.

30

ARTICLE IN PRESS
Y.-F. Chang / Control Engineering Practice 13 (2005) 95104

98

r (s)
_

f r(s)

e(s)
k p+k d s
+

y(s)

Nc (1+ N )

-k s

Chen et al., 1995; Doyle et al., 1992; Jury & Dewey,

1965), as follows:
Z jN
1
BsBs
ds;
10
J min
kp kd 2pj jN AsAs

V(s)

s2 + 2 n s + 2n

d( s)

Fig. 5. Block diagram of the EDM gap control system.

where Nc is the average gain plotted as the dot-dashed

line in Fig. 4. The term DN is the ratio of the nonlinear
and time-varying perturbation to the average gain Nc :
According to the foregoing analysis, the system is a
type 1 system when the gap controller Hs is a pure
proportional controller. A PD controller is applied to
the system to improve the transient responses. Accordingly, Eq. (2) can be expressed as
fr s kp es kd ses:

Fig. 5 shows the complete block diagram, referring to

that the following section analyzes the robustness.

3. Robustness analysis and optimization

Following the above description, the goal of the gap
control system is to maintain the discharge condition in
the gap at a desired pulse characteristic. The reference
input is set to a constant rs ; at which the system output
should be maintained. The greatest problem in this
design concerns how to determine the control parameters kp and kd to maximize the tracking performance.
However, a nonlinear and time-varying perturbation,
DN ; is present in the system. The design must consider
the perturbation to increase the systems robustness.
3.1. H2 tracking performance
In linear control theory, the integral of the square of
the error (ISE) is typically used to measure the tracking
performance of the step response (Stefani et al., 1994),
which can also be expressed as 2-norm in feedback
control theory (Doyle et al., 1992). When the system has
minimal ISE, then H2 performance is obtained (Doyle
et al., 1989; Khargonekar & Rotea, 1991; Chen et al.,
1995). The H2 optimal control minimizes the ISE of the
nominal system, excluding the perturbation, to improve
the tracking performance of the perturbed system
Z N
J min
e2 tdt;
9
kp kd

where As and Bs are Hurwitz polynomials in s of

appropriate degrees. These polynomials are given by
es Bs=As: The H2 optimization problem is to
minimize
the index of P
performance J subject to As
Pm
m1
k
k
a
s
and
Bs

k
k0
k0 bk s : The symbols ak k=0
to m and bk k=0 to m1 are the parameters of the
polynomials. The value of Jm kp ; kd is given in the
published tables (Stefani et al., 1994; Jury & Dewey,
1965). In this study, the linear approximation should be
made by disregarding the perturbation of the feedback
term DN in Eq. (7). The response of error es to the
input of a step can be determined as follows using
Eqs. (1), (3), (4), (7) and (8) subject to DN 0 when the
reference is set as a constant rt rs rs rs =s:
es

rs s2  2xon rs s  o2n rs

Bs
:

s3 2xon s2 o2n Nc ks kd s Nc ks kp As
11

Accordingly, the value of Jm kp ; kd can be determined

from the published tables (Stefani et al., 1994; Jury &
Dewey, 1965) using m 3:
J3 kp ; kd

b22 a0 a1 b21  2b0 b2 a0 a3 b20 a2 a3

:
2a0 a3 a0 a3 a1 a2

12

The designed gain parameters kp and kd should

minimize the index of performance J3 :
The above tracking performance is improved by the
constraint of the following HN robustness during the
erosion.
3.2. HN robust stability
With reference to the feedback system in Fig. 6, if the
linear elements Cs and Ps are asymptotically stable
and the innity norm (representing the frequency
spectral density) of nonlinear and time-varying element
DW s is bounded by
jDW jojN pjkjojN ;

13

where kjo is stable and known, then the system is

asymptotically stable, as specied by


PsCskjo


14
 1 PsCs  p1:
N

r (s)
+_

C(s)

P(s) (1+W(s))

y(s)

which can be evaluated in the frequency domain

using Parsevals theorem (Stefani et al., 1994;

Fig. 6. Block diagram of a perturbed control system.

ARTICLE IN PRESS
Y.-F. Chang / Control Engineering Practice 13 (2005) 95104

The foregoing inequality can be obtained using the

properties of the innite norm (Vidyasagar, 1985;
Francis, 1986) or the test of critical point, -1, lies
outside the Nyquist plot of center PsCs; radius
jkjoPjoCjojN (Doyle et al., 1992). The physical
interpretation of Eq. (14) is that when the gap control
system is stabilized around the nominal mean Nc ; and
the variation within kjo is also attenuated around the
loop, such that the loop gain of the variation does not
exceed unity that is, if the loop gain of the variation does
not exceed unity then, the gap control system that
includes the nonlinear and time-varying element is
stable.
In the gap control system, the elements Cs and Ps
can be represented as
Cs

ks kp ks kd s
s3 2xon s2 o2n s

15

and
Ps Nc :

16

The value W s 1 can be determined by comparing

the parameters of the transfer functions from rs to ys
in Figs. 5 and 6. Since D in Eq. (13) is known in the
system, the value of jkjojN in Eq. (13) can be obtained.
The result of Eq. (14) is obtained as


PsCskjo


 1 PsCs 
N
s

PjoPjoCjoCjokjokjo
sup
1 PjoCjo1 PjoCjo
oA0;N
s
bo
sup
ao
oA0;N
s
bo

sup
oA0;N ao
p1:

99

The gain parameters kp and kd must be determined to

yield the maximum tness Ft kp ; kd that satises the
RouthHurwitz criterion, subject to Eq. (14) in the
parameter domain.
The maximal Ft kp ; kd cannot easily be found using
conventional algorithms. In this work, gain parameters
kp and kd of the PD controller with maximum Ft kp ; kd
are determined using genetic algorithms (Goldberg,
1989).
3.3. GAs for optimization
The stable gain parameters kp and kd can be obtained
by applying the RouthHurwitz criterion (Stefani et al.,
1994). All roots of the following characteristic equation
should be located in the left half of the complex plane.
s3 2xon s2 o2n Nc ks kd s Nc ks kp 0:

19

According to the RouthHurwitz test, the stable region

in the kp 2kd plane is below the line
2xon ks Nc kd  ks Nc kp 2xo3n 0;

20

which is represented by a dotted line in Fig. 7. The stable

region is not closed, so the parameter domain used in
the GAs cannot be easily determined in the region. The
HN criterion, Eq. (17), should be applied rst to
determine the domain. The region below the curve in
the gure satises Eq. (17). Fig. 7 also presents the
boundary as a solid line when DN 50%: Then,
the parameter domain can be determined as below
when the parameters of the system are obtained
D:

1pkp p31;
0pkd p1;

21

which is presented as box D in the gure. The terms kp

and kd can be coded as two 32-bit-long integers in C

17

The maximal value of Eq. (17) with respect to frequency

can be determined below the frequency 300 rad/s. The
system with minimal J3 should obey the HN norm
Eq. (17) below unity in order to increase the robustness
and tolerate the nonlinear and time-varying feedback
signals.
The foregoing analysis implies that the design task is
to select two gain parameters kp and kd such that the
nominal gap control system Cs is asymptotically stable
when the robust stability condition in Eq. (14) is also
satised.
An optimal controller, subject to the HN robust
constraint, as expressed in Eq. (9), can be determined by
expressing tness Ft kp ; kd as
Ft kp ; kd

1
:
J3

18

Fig. 7. Bound on the gains kp and kd determined by the Routh

Hurwitz and HN criteria; region D to be tested by GAs and the
optimal gain parameters indicated by a circle.

ARTICLE IN PRESS
Y.-F. Chang / Control Engineering Practice 13 (2005) 95104

100

language to enable high-resolution and convenient

expression. Only positive integers are associated with
the parameters kp and kd ; so all the string lengths are set
to 31. The codes for kp are from 0 (kp 1) to
7FFFFFFF (kp 31) in hexadecimal. The codes for
kd are from 0 (kd 0) to 7FFFFFFF (kd 1) in
hexadecimal. The tness specied by Eq. (18) in the
region constrained by Eq. (17) is investigated during the
GA search.
GAs govern the search process, as indicated in Fig. 8,
which thus includes reproduction, crossover, mutation
and decoding. Initially, the parameters are coded as
strings. More strings in a population can investigate
more test points in the parameter region in every
generation. This study investigates four strings in a
population. Each bit in each string is randomly

arc length
10%
40%

15%
35%

mating pool
(reproduction)
crossover
mutation
decoding

compute fitnessvalues F t (k p ,k d ) = 1/J 3

calculate norms of Eq.(17)

check four norms

if norm is greater then 1 then
F t (k p ,k d ) = 0
no

F t (k p ,k d ) > Ftmax
yes

save kp and k d
and F tmax = F(kp ,k d )
Fig. 8. Flow chart of the GAs used to determine maximal tness and
gain parameters.

generated by successive ips. Four strings are then

decoded as real parameters. Four tness corresponding
to these parameters are thus obtained. When the
parameters kp and kd fail to satisfy the HN stability
criterion, according to the results of testing using
Eq. (17), the tness is set to zero. The GAs are then
reapplied when the strings and tness are known.
During reproduction, the value of the circumference
of a roulette wheel equals the sum of the four tness
values. The random selection tends to select offspring
strings with large tness values. The tness is represented by a fraction of the circumference, such that tter
strings are more likely to be reselected.
With reference to crossover, integer position between
one and 30 are selected uniformly at random. The lower
bits below the position of each pair of strings should be
exchanged for each other. Two new strings are created
by swapping all bits between position 1 and the integer
position inclusively. For example, when the value 1 is
produced randomly, the last bit of a pair of strings
should be exchanged. The other strings are similarly
applied to this process. The crossover operation includes
two pairs of strings in the new generation.
Although reproduction and crossover support effective searching, they may sometimes cause premature
tting and lose some potentially useful genetic material
(Goldberg, 1989). The mutation operation ensures that
the global test does not terminate if all strings are
identical. The operation switches a tested bit of the
strings from 1 to 0 when the bit is originally one and the
probability is one. The process switches a bit from 0 to 1
when the testing bit is originally zero and the probability
is one. The testing bit remains the same when the
probability is zero. The bits of the strings are randomly
switched bit-by-bit in mutation. A small probability is
associated with a mutating ip.
All binary parameters determined by the foregoing
operation are decoded as real values, using the inverse
transform from the hexadecimal expression (1 to
7FFFFFFF) to the oating point expression (kp: 1 to
31, kd: 0 to 1). Then, four tness values are determined
again.
Four values of the tness, which are produced after
the mutation, are used in the reproduction again. The
GAs are repeated from reproduction to mutation. The
new ts reproduced after successive GA processes
should be compared with the earlier ones to obtain the
best t. The best t and corresponding gain parameters
kp and kd are saved as variables Ftmax ; kpmax and kdmax in
the computer program. If the largest t produced in one
GAs process exceeds the stored maximum t Ftmax ; then
the largest t is saved as the maximal one. When the
maximal Ftmax settles at a value, the associated kpmax and
kdmax are the desired values of the parameters. Fig. 8
shows the ow chart of the entire computer program
including the GAs.

ARTICLE IN PRESS
Y.-F. Chang / Control Engineering Practice 13 (2005) 95104

4. Design procedure
According to the preceding analysis, the design
procedure of a PD controller for an EDMing gap
control system can be described as follows:
(a) All parameters of the servo driving system, including ks ; x and on can be derived by identifying the
system.
(b) Measuring the gain distribution using the actual
erosion enables the average gain Nc of the nonlinear
and time-varying feedback signals to be obtained,
as shown in Fig. 4.
(c) According to the RouthHurwitz criterion (Stefani
et al., 1994), the nominally stable region in kd  kp
gain space, which guarantees that the poles of the
characteristic equation of the nominal system are all
to the left of the complex plane, is determined rst.
(d) Inside the region, determined in step (c), the subregion that satises the requirement of HN robust
stability in Eq. (17) is determined.
(e) The parameter domain that will be used in the GAs
search is determined.
(f) In the parameter domain, the optimal pair kp and
kd with the maximal 1=J3 tness under the HN
constraints in Eq. (17), is obtained using the
successive GAs as shown in Fig. 8.
The following practical application of the gap control
system on a die-sinking EDM is considered to highlight
the performance of the robust PD controller.

5. Simulation and experiments

The robust PD controller is installed in a computerized numerically controlled die-sinking EDM with two
CPUs, as shown in Fig. 9, in which ADSP21061
performs the proposed PD gap control, interpolation
and position control. An 80486 CPU in a personal
computer runs the humanmachine interface, partially
runs the part program interpreter, and controls the logic

80486
r (t)

e( t)

_
+

Human-machine interface,
part program interpreter,
I/O logic control
PD
Controller

f r (t)

Interpolator

Position
controller

ADSP21061
D/A

d(t)

D/A

()

Servo
Driving
System
V(t)

Discharge
Power
Supply

A/D

Electrode

Osciloscope
y( t)

Gap Voltage
Filter

d e(t)

Workpiece

Fig. 9. Experimental setup of a commercial die-sinking CNC EDM.

101

of the input/output signals. An auxiliary D/A converter

expresses the actual position fed back dt as a voltage
signal, which is recorded on an oscilloscope. The PD
controller can determine the feed rate of the interpolator
to drive the electrode either toward the workpiece or in
the opposite direction along the desired path. After
receiving the position commands from the interpolator,
the position controller drives the servo system through a
D/A converter.
Sinusoidal signals are input to the interpolator fr t
and the actual feed rate, V t; of the servo motor is
measured to determine the parameters of the servo
driving system as follows:
x 0:3;
on 110 rad=s;
ks 12 100

rad2 mm
:
s3

The feedback lter is designed to saturate the output

signals at the upper bound of 88 V when the gap
distance slightly exceeds 41 mm: The discharge condition
is set to (Ton 300 ms;Toff 160 ms;I 6 A). The electrode jumps 0:1 mm upward after continuous erosion
for 2 s to prevent the carbon powder from becoming
welded to the eroded surface. Then, the electrode returns
to discharge again. Fig. 4 shows the I/O relationship
with DN 50%: The feedback signal yt is attenuated
by a factor of 10; it species the input to the detecting
circuit and the A/D converter. The reference input is set
to 30 V; such that the controller can maintain the
electrode 14 mm away from the workpiece. The actual
potential difference across the discharge gap is 30 V: The
recommended reference input provides the maximal
removal rate, according to the actual erosion test.
Fig. 7 plots the bound on the control parameters of
PD as a dotted line in Fig. 7, according to the Routh
Hurwitz criterion (Stefani et al., 1994; Chen, 1984) and
the characteristic equation, Eq. (19), with an average
gain of Nc 2:125 V=mm: The bound on the PD gain
parameters given a maximal gain of N 3:187 V=mm is
plotted as a dashed line in Fig. 7. According to the
results of RouthHurwitz testing of the characteristic
equation, Eq. (19), the boundary of proportional gain kp
increases from 31 as kd increases from zero. The solid
line represents the boundary of robust gain parameters
constrained byHN ; which obeys Eq. (17), according to
which the gain domains of kp and kd used by GAs are set
to kp =[1, 31] and kd =[0, 1], respectively. The optimal
robust gain parameters at the maximal Ft kp ; kd
indicated by a circle in Fig. 7 are kp 21 and kd
0:52; determined using the GAs in Fig. 8. The tness
approaches 96.792. The testing region of the tness
subject to the robustness criterion, Eq. (17), is in the box
of Fig. 7. The tness and gain parameters are close to
the optimal values after 200 generations. The optimal

ARTICLE IN PRESS
102

Y.-F. Chang / Control Engineering Practice 13 (2005) 95104

gain parameters kp 21 and kd 0:52 can be sought

effectively using GAs according to the ow chart in Fig.
8. The gain parameters near the optimal values are also
applied to the controller in the simulation and actual
eroding experiments, to realize the difference between
both the control performance and the machining
efciency of the system with the optimal gain parameters and those without optimal gain parameters. The
gain parameters (kp ; kd )=(30, 0.52) with large kp ;
kp ; kd 21; 0:7 with large kd ; kp ; kd 21; 0:3; with
small kd and kp ; kd 10; 0:52 with small kp near the
optimal gain parameters are applied to a simulated and
a real electrical discharge machining system to conrm
the robustness and the machining rate.
Square pulses with a height of 10 mm and a width of
0:01 s are applied to de t at times 1:2 s and 1:4 s in the
simulation. All electrodes start at the position
dt 200 mm: As indicated in Fig. 10, the simulated
position dt of the system with control parameters
(kp 31; kd 0), the same as in Fig. 11, oscillates after
the electrode engages the discharge eld. The gain kp is
near the upper bound of stability.
Fig. 12 plots the simulated positional responses given
various gain parameters, where d1 to d4 express the
position responses of the system with gain parameters
near the optimal values. The term d5 represents the
variation in position of the optimal system that is
designed by applying the H2 =HN criterion. Initially, a
short settling time of about 0:2s yields a high traveling
speed before the electrode encounters the discharge eld.
The variation in both positions d1 and d2 is fast but
oscillates for a long time. The position responses, d3 ; d4
and d5 ; respond from the controllers with parameters in
the HN robust region, dened by Eq. (17), and all respond
robustly. However, d3 and d4 respond slowly. Position
d5 settles to equilibrium more quickly than the others

Fig. 12. Simulated speeds of EDMing system with gains (d1 )

(30,0.52), (d2 ) (21, 0.7), (d3 ) (21, 0.3), (d4 ) (10, 0.52) and (d5 ) (21, 0.52).

Fig. 10. Simulated position dt of EDMing system with gain

parameters kp 31 and kd 0:

do. The responses of d5 indicate that the H2 tracking

performance under the HN constraint represents an
improvement over that of pure HN :
Fig. 13 plots the actual responses in the same manner
as the simulated results. The fast responses in parts (a)
and (b) of Fig. 13 undergo oscillation after the electrode
encounters the discharge eld. Systems with high gain
parameters, such as those in parts (a) and (b) of Fig. 13,
are perturbed strongly by the generation of powder and
variation in feedback gain. However, the electrodes
respond slowly in parts (c) and (d). Their positional
responses are smooth. However, their settling time is
long and their removal rates fall. The response of the
system with optimal Ft kp ; kd , plotted in Fig. 13(e), is
better than that of a system that exhibits pure HN
performance, as shown in Figs. 13(c) and (d).
According to the simulation and the actual erosion
experiments, the high gain parameters yield responses

1>

1) Ch 2:

2 Volt 200 ms

Fig. 11. Actual position dt of EDMing system with gain parameters

kp 31 and kd 0:

ARTICLE IN PRESS
Y.-F. Chang / Control Engineering Practice 13 (2005) 95104

1>

1>

(a)

103

1) Ch 2:

(b)

2 Volt 200 ms

2 Volt 200 ms

1>

(c) 1) Ch 2:

1) Ch 2:

1>

(d) 1) Ch 2:

2 Volt 200 ms

2 Volt 200 ms

1>

(e)z 1) Ch 2:

2 Volt 200 ms

Fig. 13. Actual position records of EDMing system with gains: (a) (30,0.52), (b) (21, 0.7), (c) (21, 0.3), (d) (10, 0.52) and (e) (21, 0.52).

that are sensitive to nonlinear and time-varying perturbations of the feedback gain. The rate of erosion falls
because the electrode oscillates. The low gain parameters cause responses that are insensitive to nonlinear
and time-varying perturbations in the feedback gain.
However, the slow response of the actual gap also
reduces the rate of erosion. The robust gain parameters

at optimal Ft kp ; kd can provide good performance and

good robustness during EDMing.
When the gap control system exhibits optimal
Ft kp ; kd robustness, the machining rate also exceeds
the rates obtained when the parameters are near the
optimal ones. Fig. 14 plots the variation in the position
of the electrode as a hole with a diameter of 10 mm is

ARTICLE IN PRESS
Y.-F. Chang / Control Engineering Practice 13 (2005) 95104

104

sation system of machine tools. Further research must

be performed to determine how the various dynamics of
the systems impact transient performance.

Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the National Science
Council of the Republic of China for nancially
supporting this research under Contract No. NSC902212-E-212-024.

References

Fig. 14. Actual depth of erosion during a complete discharge.

being machined. When the hole is deep, the powder

cannot easily escape. The high response of the electrode
supplies the continuous discharge in the gap. The
oscillation and slow response of the electrode reduce
the effective discharge such that the rate of machining
falls.

6. Conclusions
The gap control system with optimal Ft kp ; kd
satises the needs of an EDMing system that includes
a nonlinear and time-varying feedback device. The
following conclusions are drawn:
(a) A discharge process can be treated as a nonlinear
and time-varying perturbation. A perturbation with
an average gain should be considered in the design
of a robust PD controller.
(b) The optimal performance, with maximal Ft kp ; kd ;
under a constraint on HN can be obtained by
seeking the gain parameters kp and kd that
maximize the inverse of the integral of the squared
error of the system. GAs can be used to determine
the optimal gain parameters of the PD controller.
(c) Both simulation and an actual die-sinking EDMing
process with optimal Ft kp ; kd robustness exhibit
good robust control performance. The rate of
erosion of the system with optimal robustness also
exceeds the rates obtained without optimal robustness.
The design procedure can also be applied to other
machining systems, including the focusing system of a
laser-cutting machine, the contour tracking system of a
layout machine and the in-process geometrical compen-

Chen, B. S., Cheng, Y. M., & Lee, C. H. (1995). A genetic approach to

mixed H2/HN optimal PID control. IEEE Control Systems
Magazine, 15(5), 5160.
Chen, C. T. (1984). Linear system theory and design. New York: CBS
College.
Doyle, J. C., Francis, B. A., & Tannenbaum, A. R. (1992). Feedback
control theory. New York: Macmillan Publishing.
Doyle, J.C., Zhou, K., & Bodenheimer, B. (1989). Optimal control
with mixed H2 and HN performance objectives. Proc. Am.
Control. Conf., Pittsburgh, PA p. 2065.
Francis, B. A. (1986). A course in HN control theory. Berlin: Springer.
Goldberg, D. E. (1989). Genetic algorithms in search, optimization, and
machine learning. Reading, MA: Addison Wesley.
Holland, J. H. (1962). Outline for a logical theory of adaptive systems.
Journal of the Association for Computing Machinery, 3, 297314.
Jury, E. I., & Dewey, A. G. (1965). A general formulation of the total
square integrals for continuous systems. IEEE Transactions
Automatic Control, AC-10, 119120.
Khargonekar, P. P., & Rotea, M. A. (1991). Mixed H2/HN control: A
convex optimization approach. IEEE Transactions Automatic
Control, 36(7), 824837.
Koren, Y. (1976). Interpolator for a CNC system. IEEE Transactions
on Computers, 25(1), 3237.
Masory, O., & Koren, Y. (1985). Stability analysis of a constant force
adaptive control system for turning. ASME Journal of Engineering
for Industry, 107, 295300.
Meyer, R. C. (1987). How to Improve an EDM Servo System/Part 1.
EDM Digest.
Rajurkar, K. P., & Wang, W. M. (1989). A new model reference
adaptive control of EDM. Annals of the CIRP, 38(1), 183186.
Rajurkar, K. P., & Wang, W. M. (1990). Real-time stochastic model
and control of EDM. Annals of the CIRP, 39(1), 187190.
Reda, M. R. (1979). Fundamentals of the EDM Process/Part 1, Part 2,
and Part 3. EDM Digest.
Stefani, R. T., Savant, C. J., Shahian, B., & Hostetter, G. H. (1994).
Design of feedback control systems. Boston: Saunders College
Publishing.
Vidyasagar, M. (1985). Control system syntheses: A factorization
approach. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Wang, W. M., & Rajurkar, K. P. (1992). Modeling and adaptive
control of EDM systems. Journal of Manufacturing Systems, 11(5),
334345.
Wang, W. M., & Rajurkar, K. P. (1997). Improvement of EDM
performance with advanced monitoring and control systems.
ASME Journal of Manufacturing Science and Engineering, 119,
770775.
Wang, W. M., Rajurkar, K. P., & Akamatsu, K. (1995). Digital gap
monitor and adaptive integral control for auto-jumping in EDM.
ASME Journal of Engineering for Industry, 117, 253258.