Abstract
Nowadays, several nontraditional machining(NTM) processes are widely used to machine a complex and accurate shape part of hard materials, such as titanium, ceramics, high strength temperature resistant and refractory materials which are difficult to machine and having high strength, hardness, toughness. Machining of these complex shapes in such materials by traditional machining processes are very difficult. The NTM processes is important in the areas of micro- and nano scale machining, where high accuracy and superior surface characteristics are required, which can only be achieved using these NTM processes. So, for effective selection of different NTM processes, careful decision making for a given NTM application is often necessary. An appropriate NTM process for a given material and shape condition is very difficult for the novice engineers. In this paper, an expert system based on an analytic network process(ANP) is suggested for a best selection of NTM process in a NTM application considering an prior interdependency effect among various factors.