Automatic definition of tool life under heavy roughing five-axis milling process in production environment

• Published in: International journal of advanced manufacturing technology 2023-07, Vol.127 (3-4), p.1951-1978
• Main Authors: Lacerda, Rafael Segantin, Diniz, Anselmo Eduardo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Advanced manufacturing technologies; CAE) and Design; Carbon; Computer-Aided Engineering (CAD; Costs; Cutting parameters; Engineering; Five axis; Hydraulic turbines; Hydraulics; Industrial and Production Engineering; Industrial development; Industry 4.0; Literature reviews; Manufacturing; Mechanical Engineering; Media Management; Milling (machining); New Intelligent Manufacturing Technologies through the Integration of Industry 4.0 and Advanced Manufacturing; Original Article; Power consumption; Stainless steel; Temperature; Titanium; Tool life; Tool wear; Turbines
• ISSN: 0268-3768; 1433-3015
• DOI: 10.1007/s00170-022-10058-w

Milling is a very important machining process for many industry fields. In rough milling, changing the tool in the correct moment is an important task, since both, the tool (which is usually big and with many teeth) and the machine used are very expensive. Several studies were carried out mainly during the 1980s and 1990s, seeking to establish criteria for the end of tool life, as well, methods that could indicate the ideal time for tool change in real production. Nevertheless, according to an extensive literature review based on publications in manufacturing technology journals, university research, and benchmarks with industry developments, it was not possible to find out publications that confirms the usage of automatic definition for the end of tool life under heavy roughing five-axis milling in a production environment. Based on this context, the relevance, originality, and contribution of the present work for the scientific community is grounded in developing an automatic tool change process completely independent of the cutting parameters and inside a production environment, that can be replicated for many other machining operations by using state of art technologies (Industry 4.0–The Digital Age), in order to take out of the machine operator’s hands the important decision to establish the end of tool life. Aiming this goal, several rough milling experiments were conducted in a real production of hydraulic turbines. The main conclusion was that, in rough milling process, where the admissible flank wear is very high, both, the power consumption of the machine and the cutting temperature at the end of tool life are independent of the cutting conditions ( v c and f z ) and, consequently, a specific value of power and temperature can be established to determine tool life end.