In-process tool wear detection of square end mill based on DC two terminal method

This study presents the in-process tool wear detection of the square end mill in down cut application. The developed high-speed tool wear detection system based on DC two terminal method uses the contact resistance between the tool and workpiece as a gauge to observe the progression of the tool wear. Depending on the width of tool flank wear, the electrical resistance signal decreases according to the increase of the contact area on the tool flank. The influence of the thermo-electromotive force (E.M.F) should be considered in detecting the contact resistance. In the previous experiment, the target was the face milling process. In this experiment, all attentions were focused on square end mill applying to up cut, down cut and center cut. The results were presented through the observation of the relationship between tool flank wear width and tool-work contact resistance which has not been evaluated until now. As a conclusion; the results of the experiment show that the present high-speed tool wear detection system based on DC two terminal method is effective as an in-process detection tool wear system also for the square end mill.