Spark-assisted chemical engraving (SACE) is a non-traditional machining technology\nthat is used to machine electrically non-conducting materials including glass, ceramics, and quartz.\nThe processing accuracy, machining efficiency, and reproducibility are the key factors in the SACE\nprocess. In the present study, a machine vision method is applied to monitor and estimate the status\nof a SACE-drilled hole in quartz glass. During the machining of quartz glass, the spring-fed tool\nelectrode was pre-pressured on the quartz glass surface to feed the electrode that was in contact with\nthe machining surface of the quartz glass. In situ image acquisition and analysis of the SACE drilling\nprocesses were used to analyze the captured image of the state of the spark discharge at the tip and\nsidewall of the electrode. The results indicated an association between the accumulative size of the\nSACE-induced spark area and deepness of the hole. The results indicated that the evaluated depths\nof the SACE-machined holes were a proportional function of the accumulative spark size with a high\ndegree of correlation. The study proposes an innovative computer vision-based method to estimate\nthe deepness and status of SACE-drilled holes in real time.
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