A Novel Tool Condition Monitoring Technique of Determining Insert Flank Wear Width of Indexable Face Milling Tools Using On-Machine Laser Tool Setters

Indexable face milling tools are often used to machine workpieces with large axial and radial depth of cuts, and thus, the inserts quickly wear out in machining. A kernel technique of smart machining is tool wear compensation, which is to regularly and automatically measure the insert radius/length with a laser tool setter on the machine table during machining, and compensate them in the subsequent machining. Another technique is tool condition monitoring, which is to calculate the insert flank wear width for tool condition and compare with its threshold. When it is less than but close to its threshold of invalid inserts, the cutting tool is automatically changed right before it becomes invalid. On-machine laser tool setters have been equipped in CNC machine tools for several years; however, they cannot conduct cutting tool condition monitoring. The main reason is that the insert flank wear width cannot be measured on the on-machine laser tool setter, and the status quo is that the cutting tool is replaced either too early or too late. To address this problem, a novel tool condition monitoring technique of determining the insert flank wear width of indexable face milling tool using on-machine laser tool setters is proposed. According to the insert geometry, the worn cutting edge and a new workpiece milling mechanism proposed in this work, the insert flank wear width can be calculated. In machining, the insert radius wear is measured on the on-machine laser tool setter, and the insert flank wear width is calculated to evaluate whether it is invalid soon. The results indicate that the optimal height for radius measurement is located near the intersection of the corner and side edges point <i>MR</i>₃, and close to the cutting depth point <i>MR</i>₅. A wear land width threshold of 0.10 mm is established to define tool failure. The proposed calculation method achieves high accuracy, maintaining calculation errors within 14.00%. The inserts can be used in good condition with the maximum lifespan. This method has been verified in machining applications and can be directly applied in industry.