Abstract
A new method is proposed in the present research to monitor tool wear of endmills by comparing measured cutting force with calculated one. A new cutting force model is developed to correlate the milling force with the tool wear, and cutting experiments are carried out by utilizing a vertical machining center. Variables in the cutting force model are identified so that the calculated milling force is best fitted with the measured one. It is clarified by the experiments and the identifications that there is a good correlation between the tool wear and the identified variables. Unlike the conventional monitoring methods, the present method based on the cutting force model is expected to be able to monitor the tool wear without utilizing any databases.
