A new approach to investigate tool condition using dummy tool holder and sensor setup

The industrial demand for automated machining systems to enhance process productivity and quality in machining aerospace components requires investigation of tool condition monitoring. The formation of chip and its removal have a remarkable effect on the state of the cutting tool during turning. This work presents a new technique using acoustic emission (AE) to monitor the tool condition by separating the chip formation frequencies from the rest of the signal which comes mostly from tool wear and plastic deformation of the work material. A dummy tool holder and sensor setup have been designed and integrated with the conventional tool holder system to capture the time-domain chip formation signals independently during turning. Several dry turning tests have been conducted at the speed ranging from 120 to 180 m/min, feed rate from 0.20 to 0.50 mm/rev, and depth of cut from 1 to 1.5 mm. The tool insert used was TiN-coated carbide while the work material was high-carbon steel. The signals from the dummy setup clearly differ from the AE signals of the conventional setup. It has been observed that time-domain signal and corresponding frequency response can predict the tool conditions. The rate of tool wear was found to decrease with chip breakage even at higher feed rate. The tool wear and plastic deformation were viewed to decrease with the increased radius of chip curvature and thinner chip thickness even at the highest cutting speed, and these have been verified by measuring tool wear. The chip formation frequency has been found to be within 97.7 to 640 kHz.