Analysis of Tool Wear—Part I: Theoretical Models of Flank Wear

Abstract

Cutting tools of sufficient strength against failure by brittle fracture or loss of “form stability” through rise of interface temperatures, still continue to fail by a process of “wear,” which is loss of cutting tool material through gradual interaction between the work and the tool material. Such wear can take place either at the principal flank surface or at the top face of the cutting tool for roughing and semiroughing cuts. Wear may also occur at the auxiliary flank surface resulting in grooving wear during fine machining or machining of high strength materials. The causes for such wear processes include (i) mechanical interaction (abrasion or adhesion and transfer type), (ii) thermochemical interaction (diffusion or chemical reaction). As a part of this investigation on tool wear, two theoretical models have been proposed for explaining mechanical wear at the flank surface. These models explain the nature and characteristics of wear growth and the sensitiveness and dependence of interaction phenomena between the tool-work pair.