Development of a surface acoustic wave sensor based smart cutting tool with application to the fly-cutting process

摘要

An essential aspect in the control of metal cutting processes is the monitoring and control of cutting forces particularly in-process. A successful cutting operation is judged on the quality of the machined surface, which is inherently linked to the condition of the cutting tool. During the cutting operation, wear and breakage of cutting inserts can increase cutting forces and vibrations of the machining system, resulting in poor surface finish and loss of dimensional accuracy of the machined workpiece. Therefore, it is critical to measure the cutting force changes in-process with a high accuracy. This paper presents the development of a novel smart cutting tool based on a surface acoustic wave (SAW) sensor applied to a fly-cutting application. Moreover, wireless transmission technology has been incorporated into the proposed SAW-based smart cutting tool in order to collect the cutting force signal. Cutting trials using both the proposed SAW-based smart cutting tool and a Kistler dynamometer were carried out to demonstrate the ability of the system to measure the cutting force in real-time.