An investigation of tool wear and the vibration spectrum in milling

Abstract The findings of an experimental study conducted on carbide face milling cutters wherein the effect of the interaction between the tool wear and the vibrations that occur during the process was investigated are reported. The effect of the machine tool-cutting tool-workpiece (MCW) system stiffness on tool wear was also investigated. It is demonstrated that the vibration behaviour of the MCW system is characterized by a number of frequencies, each of which corresponds to a particular element or unit of the MCW system. It is shown that the increase in tool wear rate due to the presence of vibration is mainly governed by the stiffness of the MCW system elements which are responsible for the high frequency components of the vibration spectrum. The increase in vibration frequency was, in general, observed to lead to higher tool wear rates, provided that the vibration amplitudes are in excess of a certain critical value. From the point of view of tool wear, the vibrations of the cutter blade were found to be the most crucial, as they are characterized by high frequency as well as sufficiently large amplitudes.