Micro Boring Bar Tool Monitoring using Vibration

The concept of using sensors, outside of those integrated within the machine tool, to monitor tool condition is not novel and there are several methods which can be deployed, and some are outlined below. The challenge, within the area of sensorisation, lies in the size of the tooling to be analysed, specifically micro boring bars which are typically removing very small amounts of material.

Acoustic Emission. This technology measures sound vibrations generated during the machining process and different tool wear would generate different sounds vibrations which could be analysed. We discussed this option with a research partner who had successfully measured tool failure in small milling tools. However, this technology was dismissed for this application as the recording hardware would need to be placed very close to the machining area and results can be significantly impacted by ambient noise such as coolant. Also, the use of this technology, while suitable for a laboratory environment, is not currently suitable for a machining environment.