Cutting Tool Maintenance
Introduction
All manufacturing processes are inherently variable.
The variability of a process is due to two types of causes:
-assignable causes. The cause is known and it can be corrected.
-common causes. Random in nature, inherent to the process and practically impossible to eliminate.
The variations of a process can be verified through the results obtained with it in a controlled situation where we do not find unexpected assignable causes.
Often, the variation of a process can conform to some probabilistic law. One of the most used and simplest is the normal distribution, which is characterized by its mean and standard deviation.
In all machining processes there is wear and tear of the cutting tools used in each case.
All cutting tools wear during machining, and such wear continues until the end of the cutting edge occurs. Nowadays, the parameters that are used to determine when a cutting edge is in optimal conditions for cutting are mainly the surface finish, the dimensional precision left in the manufactured parts, the wear pattern of the tool, what type of chip is formed, the expected life of the edge and there are even different wear monitoring systems.
In finishing operations, the cutting edge is considered useless when the surface finish of the piece no longer meets the expected requirements. Great wear is not necessary, just a small worn part on the tip of the tool is enough to make it necessary to change it. On the contrary, in a roughing operation, the wear produced on the cutting edge is manifested in a longer edge length and considerably more wear can be tolerated, since there are no requirements for dimensional precision or surface finish.
Tool wear is inevitable and as such is not a negative process. It is not depending on when and how it occurs. When the cutting edge has cut a considerable amount of material from the workpiece, for an acceptable time normally indicated by the tool manufacturers themselves, wear is of course a logical process. Only when the destruction of the cutting edge or fracture of the tool occurs prematurely does it give rise to a negative or irrational consideration.
Tool wear is the product of a combination of a large number of factors that act on the cutting edge. The life or duration of the cutting edge is a function of various forces or loads, which contribute to deforming the cutting geometry, causing poor finishes and unwanted tolerances. Wear is the result of the interaction between the tool, the material to be cut and the machining conditions. The main factors that act on the tool are mechanical, chemical and thermal, as mentioned previously. As a result of the joint action of these factors on the cutting edge during machining, the tool material is affected by some mechanisms or factors through which wear occurs. The mechanisms, which we mention below, act simultaneously, which makes it extremely difficult to distinguish their causes and effects separately. But it should be noted that the specific influence of each of them depends on the properties of the part material, the tool and the machining conditions.