What is online and offline tool wear monitoring?

Describe each
advantages and limitations.
The Methods used for measurement of tool wear can be classified in to two main categories:

 Offline monitoring and

 Online monitoring

Offline monitoring
deal with the application of various sensing and measurement instruments such as micro-scope,
machine/camera vision; radioactive techniques to measure the tool wear. The used or worn-
out cutting tools will be taken to the metrology or inspection section of the tool room or shop floor
where they will be examined by using one of direct methods. However, these methods can easily
be applied in practice when the cutting tool is not in contact with the work piece. Therefore they
are called as offline tool monitoring system.
Offline are based upon direct measurements of the tool wear using optical, radioactive, electrical
resistance proximity sensors or vision system etc.
Offline monitoring involves:-
 Electrical resistance
 Optical measurements
 Machining hours
 Contact sensing
Advantages
 Easily applied in practice
 Accurate
 Direct indicator of tool condition

Limitations
 It needs to stop CNC machine to detect the tool state that occupancies production time.
 it can not check the sudden damages during the cutting process, which is subject to a
certain restrictions on its use.
 High cost,
 limited by operating environment, mainly for offline or intermittent monitoring
Online monitoring
Online monitoring are Indirect methods that predict the condition of the cutting
tool by analysing the relationship between cutting conditions and response of
machining process as a measurable quantity through sensor signals output such as
force, acoustic emission, vibration, or current.

Measurement of Process Parameters

There are number of process parameters used to measure tool wear in TCMS. Most commonly used
parameters are cutting forces, vibration signals, surface roughness, tool wear. The brief review of this
process parameter is given below.

Cutting Force Measurement

It has been observed that the variation in the cutting force can be correlated to tool wear. Gradual increase
in tool wear during the cutting process causes the cutting forces to increase therefore the cutting forces is
generally considered one of the most significant indicators of tool wear in the metal cutting process.
Dynamometer is used for the measurement of cutting forces.
MATLAB software was used develop a user-friendly graphical user interface (GUI) for online
monitoring purposes. In experimental process two-channel strain gauge at tool holder was used to
measure deflections in both tangential and feed direction. Result shows that developed online
monitoring system, using the strain gauge signal, is an effective method of detecting the
progression of flank wear width during machining. This is an efficient and low-cost method which
can be used in then real machining industry to predict the level of wear in the cutting tool.
How strain gauge measure forces?
Electrical resistance of any conductor is proportional to the length over cross-sectional area
(R=L/A),which means that tensile deformation (stretching ) will increase electrical resistance by
simultaneously increasing length and decreasing cross-sectional area while compressive
deformation will decrease electrical resistance by simultaneously decreasing length and increasing
cross sectional area.

Attaching a strain gauge to a diaphragm results in a device th.at change in resistance, we can infer
that the amount of force applied to the diaphragm.

The cutting forces can also be sensed by using piezo-electric devices. A micro-processor based
control system continuously monitors ‘conditioned' signals received from the Data Acquisition
System (DAS). It is generally programmed/trained with the past recorded empirical data for a wide
range of process conditions for a variety of materials. Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools such as
Artificial Neural Network (ANN), Genetic Algorithm (GA) are used to train the microprocessor
based system on a regular basis. Based on this training the control system takes the decision to
change the tool or gives an alarm to the operator.

Online monitoring can also be sense tool wear by using:

 Torque and power

 Temperature
 Vibration and acoustic emission
 Strain measurements
Advantages
 Less complex,
 low cost,
 suitable for continuous monitoring in practical applications

limitations
 Indirect indicators of tool conditions