On-line metal cutting tool condition monitoring.

Abstract

Excessive wear on cutting tools give rise to distortions in dimension of manufactured components, sometimes increasing scrapped levels thereby incurring additional costs. Methods for detecting and monitoring the wear on a cutting tool is therefore crucial in most metal cutting processes and several research efforts have striven to develop on-line tool condition monitoring systems. This paper describes an experimental and analytical method for one such technique involving the use of three mutually perpendicular components of the cutting forces (static and dynamic) and vibration signature measurements. The ensuing analyses in time and frequency domains showed some components of the measured signals to correlate well to the accrued tool wear.