Force modelling and vibration based fault detection in gear cutting

Machining is a versatile and precise production method which is preferred in many fields of industry, especially in aviation, energy, automotive and medical. In machining, it is desired that cutting tool should be used with high and maximum tool life. Accurate estimation of the cutting force components generated during chip removal is quite critical for the reasons including: cutting power, machining accuracy, machine vibrations, workpiece surface quality and geometric precision. However, monitoring of the condition of the cutting tools used in manufacturing is very important to increase the product quality, production continuity and efficiency. This study focuses on the determination of the cutting force generated during gear production using gear form cutter, and the determination of the local faults in the cutting tool by vibration based monitoring methods. In order to determine the cutting force components correctly, cutting edge with an involute profile was first generated and the cutting force components were then calculated correctly using the Kienzle approach. In addition, experiments were performed under different cutting conditions to prove the effectiveness and accuracy of the method used. The results proved that the cutting force components can be predicted with high accuracy. In order to determine the local faults in the different teeth of the cutting tool, the vibrations during the cutting were collected using accelerometers. In addition to the time and frequency domain analysis of the obtained vibrations, local seeded faults to cutting tool were determined by using continuous wavelet transform and classifier algorithms.