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Procedia CIRP 42 (2016) 547 – 551

18th CIRP Conference on Electro Physical and Chemical Machining (ISEM XVIII)

A Jump Motion Velocity Planning Algorithm with Continuous Jerk for Electrical
Discharge Machining
LIU Hongda, CHEN Hao, XI Xuecheng, ZHAO Wansheng*
State Key Laboratory of Mechanical System and Vibration, School of Mechanical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 800 Dongchuan RD,Shanghai
200240, China
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +86-021-3420-3694; fax: +86-021-3420-3694. E-mail address: zws@sjtu.edu.cn

Abstract

In electrical discharge machining (EDM), a periodic jump motion of the electrode is adopted to reduce the concentration of debris within the
discharge gap, which is produced from the material erosion through a series of electrical discharge occurring between the electrode and
workpiece immersed in a dielectric fluid. Velocity planning is an important part in the design of a jump motion. However, existing velocity
planning algorithms, such as the S-shaped feedrate planning, do not address the discontinuities in jerks. With a possibility of invoking
vibrations in a machine, discontinuities in jerks are harmful to a stable discharge status. In this paper, a velocity planning algorithm with
continuous jerks for jump motion is proposed, which takes into considerations constraints on the maximum velocity, jump heights and jerks of
the Z-axis of a machine. With a sine curve is adopted as a jerk curve, the velocity profile can obtained through integration. Simulation and
experimental results show that this proposed velocity planning algorithm achieves a better performance with a smoother jump motion and the
stability and reliability is verified through an EDM machining for a deep slot.
© 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
© 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of the organizing committee of 18th CIRP Conference on Electro Physical and Chemical Machining (ISEM
Peer-review under responsibility of the organizing committee of 18th CIRP Conference on Electro Physical and Chemical Machining
XVIII).
(ISEM XVIII)
Keywords: Electrical Discharge Machining (EDM); jump motion;feedrate planning algorithm;continuous jerk

1. Introduction
Electrical discharge machining (EDM) is one of the most
extensively used non-conventional material removal processes.
In EDM, material removal is achieved through a series of
electrical discharges occurring in the gap between a tool
electrode and a workpiece (discharge gap) [1]. The
concentration of debris resulting from the discharges is,
however, detrimental to a stable machining. To increase the
effective discharge ratio and to improve the machining
stability [2-4], a periodic jump motion of the electrode can be
adopted such that the working liquid can enter into the
discharge gap and the debris concentration is thus reduced.
Kaneko et al. [5] introduced a high speed die-sinking EDM
machine equipped with a linear motor, which can accelerate
up to 30m/min for jump motion. At such high speeds, small
discontinuities during a jump motion can generate undesirable
high frequency harmonics in the reference trajectory, which
are likely to excite the natural modes of the servo axes [6, 7].
Thus, the acceleration and deceleration stage of a jump motion
should be appropriately designed by a feedrate planning
algorithm to reduce the vibrations of a machine.
Yang and Kong [8] firstly applied the Taylor’s expansion
method to determine the sampling points and provided a
parametric interpolator with a constant feedrate. Currently, the
S-shaped feedrate planning is the most commonly used
methods. Jahanpour and Alizadeh [9] proposed an optimized
S-shaped quintic feedrate scheduling scheme based on
exponential functions, which is capable of providing a smooth
feedrate transition for all stages of a motion and achieved a
decrease in the total machining time. Lee et al. [10] proposed
a sine-curve velocity profile for obtaining a smooth jerk-
limited feedrate profile with constraints on chord errors to
achieve a high speed and a high machining accuracy. Liang et
al. [11] developed an EDM CNC system based on a PMAC
motion controller, which achieved a maximum jump speed of

2212-8271 © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of the organizing committee of 18th CIRP Conference on Electro Physical and Chemical Machining (ISEM XVIII)
doi:10.1016/j.procir.2016.02.249
548 Liu Hongda et al. / Procedia CIRP 42 (2016) 547 – 551

about 12m/min. However without considering the 2. S-shaped feedrate planning method with continuous
discontinuities in jerks, which will produce a sudden change jerk
of jerk when starting and stopping of jump motion. Thus the
S-shaped feedrate planning method used may lead to 2.1. S-shaped feedrate planning method
overshoots when Z-axis coming back to starting point, which
will affect the stable of discharge gap. Thus, in order to ensure In CNC machines, reference points along a desired
a stable discharge gap, a buffer area which is larger than the toolpath are generated by an interpolator. By feeding a
overshoots is needed. When the electrode comes back to sequence of reference points to the involved servo axes, a tool
starting point, there will be a distance for electrode to motion is realized. Feedrate planning plays an important role
approach the discharge gap slowly that offsetting the influence in trajectory interpolation, because a better feedrate planning
caused by overshoots. can not only make it easier to realize a real-time interpolation,
Makino and Ohde [12] have used a universal cam curve to but also improve the machining stability.
generate jerk continuous profiles. Simon and Isik [13] have Because of its continuity in velocity and acceleration, S-
proposed using trigonometric splines in trajectory generation shaped feedrate planning is widely used in CNC systems. In
for robotic manipulators, because of their high order the following, the formulation and implementation of a
continuity, ease of computing parameters from boundary continuous jerk feedrate profiling will be presented. For
conditions, and less oscillatory behavior between distantly simplicity, with the maximum acceleration given, only the
spaced knots, compared to high order algebraic splines. They acceleration and deceleration stages are considered in this
have also performed optimization of such trajectories for paper [14].
minimum jerk.
The use of S-shaped feedrate planning with piecesise-
constant jerks will inevitably cause shocks and vibrations of a
machine during a jump motion. To address the discontinuities
in jerks, this paper proposes a velocity planning algorithm
with continuous jerks, which takes into considerations
constraints on the maximum velocity, heights of a jump
motion and the maximum jerk of the Z-axis of a machine. The
times allocated for the acceleration and deceleration stages are
equal. A sine curve is adopted as a jerk curve. By using this
method, the expressions for acceleration and velocity can be
obtained through integration. With the height of a jump
motion and the expression for velocity, the velocity at every
point along the reference path can be determined.

Nomenclature
Fig. 1. S-shaped feedrate planning with piecewise-constant jerk
jmax maximum jerk
T acceleration time of piecewise-constant jerk As show in Fig.1, if the jerk profile J (t ) is known, and the
T0 time of constant velocity of piecewise-constant jerk initial conditions for velocity and acceleration at time t
0
J (t ) jerk expression of piecewise-constant jerk are known, the acceleration profile a(t ) can be obtained by
integrating the jerk profile J (t ) , and the velocity profile V (t )
a(t ) acceleration expression of piecewise-constant jerk
can be obtained by integrating the acceleration profile a(t ) .
V (t ) velocity expression of piecewise-constant jerk
t t
amax maximum acceleration of piecewise-constant jerk a (t )
a (0)   J (t )dt , V (t )
V (0)   a (t )dt (1)
0 0
Vmax maximum velocity of piecewise-constant jerk
T* acceleration time of continuous jerk The jerk profile shown in Fig.1 can be given as
T0* time of constant velocity of continuous jerk
 jmax , 0  t<T
J * (t ) jerk expression of continuous jerk 
*
a (t ) acceleration expression of continuous jerk  jmax , T  t<2T

J (t )
0, 2T  t<2T+T0 (2)
V * (t ) velocity expression of continuous jerk  j , 2T+T0  t<3T+T0
a*max maximum acceleration of continuous jerk  max
 jmax , 3T+T0  t<4T+T0
*
V max maximum velocity of continuous jerk
where T0 denotes the time during which the velocity for the
jump motion is constant. Integrating Eq. (2) with respect to
time, the acceleration profile can be written as
 Liu Hongda et al. / Procedia CIRP 42 (2016) 547 – 551 549

t t
 jmax t , 0  t<T a* (t )
a* (0)   J * (t ) dt , V * (t )
V * (0)   a* (t )dt (4)
 0 0

 jmax T  jmax (t-T), T  t<2T


a (t )
0, 2T  t<2T+T0 (3) The jerk profile shown in Fig.2 can be given as
 j (t-2T-T ), 2T+T0  t<3T+T0
 max 0

 jmax T  jmax (t-3T-T0 ), 3T+T0  t<4T+T0 

 j max sin T * t , 0  t 2T *

where amax
jmaxT denotes the maximum acceleration of the J * (t )
0, 2T*  t<2T* +T0* (5)
jump motion under the maximum jerk jmax and the 
 j max sin * (t  T0* ), 2T*  T0*  t  4T *  T0*
acceleration time 2T . Integrating Eq. (3) with respect to time,  T
the velocity profile can be written as
1 2 where T0* denotes the time during which the velocity for the
 2 jmax t , 0  t<T
 jump motion is constant. Integrating Eq. (5) with respect to
 1 j T 2  j T (t  T )  1 j (t-T) 2 , T  t<2T time, the acceleration profile can be written as
 2 max max
2
max

 2
V (t )
 jmax T , 2T  t<2T+T0  jmax T * j T*
  cos * t  max , 0  t 2T *
1 T
 jmax T 2  jmax (t-2T-T0 ) 2 , 2T+T0  t<3T+T0 
 2 a* (t )
0, 2T*  t<2T* +T0* (6)
1 1
2 2
 jmax T  jmax T (t -3T-T0 )  jmax (t-3T-T0 ) , 3T+T0  t<4T+T0  * *
2 2  jmax T cos (t -T* )- jmax T , 2T*  T*  t  4T *  T*
0 0 0
2
 T*
where Vmax
jmaxT denotes the maximum acceleration under
the maximum jerk jmax and the acceleration time 2T . where a*max
2 jmaxT * denotes the maximum acceleration of
the jump motion under the maximum jerk jmax and the
2.2. S-shaped feedrate planning method with continuous jerk acceleration time 2T * . Integrating Eq. (6) with respect to
time, the velocity profile can be written as
S-shaped feedrate planning is able to reduce shocks and
vibrations. However, it has been mentioned in section 1,  jmaxT *2 j T*
discontinuities will result in overshoots at stopping moments  2
sin * t  max t , 0  t 2T *
 T
for high speed jump motions. Thus, in order to ensure a stable
discharge gap, a buffer area is needed [11]. To solve these  2 j T *2
V * (t )
 max , 2T*  t<2T* +T0*
problems, S-shaped feedrate planning with continuous jerks is 
proposed for jump motions.  2 jmax T *2 jmaxT *2 j T*
  2
sin * (t -2T* -T0* )  max (t -2T * -T0* )
T

*
where Vmax
2 jmaxT *2 denotes the maximum acceleration
of jump motion under the maximum jerk jmax and the
acceleration time 2T * .

2.3. Comparison of the two methods

When the jerk is piecewise-constant, the maximum

velocity Vmax
jmaxT 2 can be achieved, with the maximum
jerk jmax and the acceleration time T . The acceleration time T
and the maximum acceleration amax can be calculated as

T
Vmax jmax , amax
Vmax jmax (7)

Fig. 2. S-shaped feedrate planning with continous jerk When the jerk is continuous, the maximum velocity
*
Vmax
2 jmaxT *2 can be achieved, with the maximum jerk
As shown in Fig.2, if the jerk profile J * (t ) is known, and jmax and the acceleration time T ** . The acceleration time T *
the initial conditions for velocity and acceleration at time and the maximum acceleration amax can be calculated as
t
0 are known, the acceleration profile a* (t ) can be
obtained by integrating the jerk profile J * (t ) ,and the velocity T*
*
Vmax *
2 jmax , amax *

2V max jmax (8)
profile V * (t ) can be obtained by integrating the acceleration
profile a* (t ) .
In summary, it can be conclude that if velocity of these two
550 Liu Hongda et al. / Procedia CIRP 42 (2016) 547 – 551

methods as well as the maximum jerk is the same, the

relationship of the acceleration and the acceleration time
between these two methods is given by

*
T *
KT , amax
amax K , where K
2 (9)

3. Mechanical properties of the Z-axis

PMAC controller provide PID servo filter, which can turn

the proportional, derivative and integral gain of Z-axis. In
order to eliminate the influence bring about by the mechanical
properties of the Z-axis, the dynamic performance of the
servo system should be optimal. By optimizing the PID
parameters of Z-axis and carrying out dynamic performance
experiments, the dynamic performance of Z-axis is achieved a
better level, which can be seen in Fig. 3. Table 1 shows the
specific performances of Z-axis.

5 m

Fig.4. Comparison of piecewise-constant and continuous jerk trajectories: (a)

jerk; (b)acceleration; (c)velocity; (d)displacement

6 m

Fig.3. the dynamic performance of Z-axis: (a) step response; (b) parabolic high frequency harmonics
velocity;

Table 1 specific performances of Z-axis

Rise time Setting time Overshoot Follow errors Damping
29ms 42ms 0 -6-5 m 0.8
Fig.5. frequency content of the acceleration profiles

4. MATLAB simulation
piecewise-constant jerk profile, the acceleration, velocity and
displacement are faster and the maximum acceleration is
In this section, the advantage of a continuous jerk feedrate
larger, which results in overshoots when coming back to the
profile over a discontinuous jerk feedrate profile is
starting point of a jump motion. However, the acceleration
demonstrated. A comparison between the two reference
and deceleration profiles with continuous jerks are smoother
trajectories with different profiles of jerk is shown in Fig.3,
as shown in Fig.4 (a) and (b). The jump motion of the Z-axis
where the jump height, maximum velocity and maximum jerk
has better continuity with continuous jerks that can reduce the
are the same. For both cases, a jump height of 10mm is
shock and vibration of machine tools and avoid overshoots,
commanded with a maximum jump speed of 50mm / s and a
which is favorable for a stable machining.
maximum jerk of 80000mm / s 3 . The acceleration time
By conducting a fast Fourier transform (FFT) on the
T
0.025s and T * is calculated by Eq. (11).
acceleration signals, a comparison as shown in Fig.5 is also
As can be seen in Fig.4, the distance, velocity and
made on the frequency spectra of the two trajectories.
acceleration of both methods are continuous. For the
 Liu Hongda et al. / Procedia CIRP 42 (2016) 547 – 551
Acceleration signals are used because accelerations are
directly related to motor actuation torques delivered by the
drive to the Z-axis. The piecewise-constant jerk planning
profile produces high frequency harmonics in acceleration. By
contrast, the frequency components of the continuous jerk
profile are mainly distributed in the low frequency range,
making this trajectory also easier to be tracked by a servo loop
with the limited bandwidth.
5. Experiment results
A machining test for narrow slot was carried out on a HE-
70 EDM machine to test the performance of the jump motion.
A comparison was made between the modified S-shaped
feedrate planning and the S-shaped feedrate planning
provided by the PMAC motion controller. The S-shaped
federate profile is implemented on the PMAC by tuning the
feature parameters Ts , Ta and Vmax , where Ts is the time
needed for acceleration and deceleration stage, Ta is the total
time for jump motion, Vmax is the maximum velocity.
A graphite electrode used has a dimension of
70mm 20mm 2mm and the material of the workpiece is
S45C. Table 2 shows the discharge parameters for machining
the narrow slot.
Table 2 discharge parameters for machining narrow slot
Pulse duration Pulse pauses Electrode polarity Peak current
80 Ns 8 Ns positive 21 A
The experimental results show that, for machining the
10mm deep narrow slots, the average time taken by the
proposed method is 40.7 minutes. The average time taken by
the S-shaped feedrate planning for the same slots is 40.5
minutes. The surface roughness Ra of undersurface is also
investigated. The surface roughness of undersurface has been
reduced from 6.461m to 5.833m by using the proposed
feedrate planning with continuous jerks. Though the
improvement in machining time by proposed method is
marginal, by using continuous jerk, jump motions can be
more continuous and shocks and vibrations of a machine can
be reduced, thus ensuring a stable discharge gap as well as a
stable machining.
6. Conclusion
In this paper, a velocity planning algorithm with
continuous jerks for jump motion is proposed, which takes
into considerations constraints on the maximum velocity,
heights of a jump motion and jerk of the Z-axis of a machine.
The time allocated for the acceleration and deceleration stages
are equal. A sine curve is adopted as a jerk curve. By using
this method, the acceleration and velocity can be calculated
by integration. With the height of jump motion and the
expression of velocity, the velocity at every point along the
desired path can be determined, thereby determining the
551
acceleration of every point. An experimental comparison was
carried out between the proposed method and the S-shaped
feedrate planning method. The results show that this velocity
planning algorithm achieves a better performance with
smoother jump motion. The stability and reliability is also
verified through longtime and repeatedly of experiments.
Acknowledgements
This research is financially supported by National Natural
Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51175337 and
51421092), National Science and Technology Major Project
(2014ZX04001061), Gas Turbine Research Institute,
Shanghai Jiao Tong University (Grant No. AF0200088/015),
and Industry-Academia-Research Project of Shanghai
Municipal Education Commission (Grant No. 15CXY03).
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