Acoustic emission analysis for tool wear monitoring in face milling

Monitoring the condition of the cutting tool in any machining operation is very important since it will affect the workpiece quality and an unexpected tool failure may damage the tool, workpiece and sometimes the machine tool itself. Advanced manufacturing demands an optimal machining process. Many problems that affect optimization are related to the diminished machine performance caused by worn out tools. One of the most promising tool monitoring techniques is based on the analysis of Acoustic Emission (AE) signals. The generation of the AE signals directly in the cutting zone makes them very sensitive to changes in the cutting process. Various approaches have been taken to monitor progressive tool wear, tool breakage, failure and chip segmentation while supervising these AE signals. In this paper, AE analysis is applied for tool wear monitoring in face milling operations. Experiments have been conducted on En-8 steel using uncoated carbide inserts in the cutter. The studies have been carried out with one, two and three inserts in the cutter under given cutting conditions. The AE signal analysis was carried out by considering signal parameters such as ring down count and RMS voltage. The results show that AE can be effectively used to monitor tool wear in face milling operation.