A tool condition monitoring system in a CIM workcell

This paper describes a CIM cell to cater for all the necessary steps involved in the manufacture of turned components. It allows a user to define the geometry of the component, prepare the process plan, generate part programmes and post-process the data for CNC machining. The highlight of this paper is the development of a module for on-line tool condition monitoring in turning. It enables the condition of the tool be monitored based on the cutting forces experienced by the insert during the turning operations. A simple tool wear estimation algorithm has been developed from the results of the experimental work for flank wear estimation. Tests conducted on the module showed that it has a force measurement error of 1%. This error for the wear estimation is translated to within 0.035 mm from the calculated flank wear value.