Estimation of residual life of a cutting tool used in a machining process

Abstract

A significant part of cost of machining is associated with non-optimum use of cutting tool. Moreover cutting tool failure is responsible for almost 20% of the machining downtime. Thus, having knowledge of residual life of cutting tool is highly recommended so as to maximise the availability time and reduce the machining cost. The aim of this work is to find out residual life of a worn cutting tool which has been used for turning of Ti-6Al-4V alloy under constant cutting condition. The lognormal distribution is used to model the cutting tool life data. Remaining useful life of cutting tool is estimated using Mean Remaining Life (MRL) function. The results obtained from model are compared with the experimental results and it shows good agreement.