Abstract
Equipment that uses a wire and an acoustic emission sensor in measuring the form of a ball-end mill on a computerized numerical control milling machine is developed in this study. The contact between the wire and the cutting edge of the ball-end mill is detected by sensing the AE wave caused by the cutting of the wire. The use of the wire as a line-type stylus rather than as a pin-type stylus, makes it facilitates the reestablishment of the contact point when the stylus generates scratches. Therefore the measurement of the profile of the rotating cutting edge can be continued in spite of wire damage. In the trial, the new equipment measured the radius, circularity deviation and coordinates of the center of the point of the ball-end mill. It was confirmed that the equipment can measure the form of a ball-end mill as precise as the copying method.
