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Novel Approach for Detection of Initial Tool Degradation from Hard Milling of Vanadis 4E using Coated PCBN Inserts

Sandsten, Maria LU ; Persson, Jonatan LU ; Åkesson, Maria LU ; Sridhar, Gautam LU ; Pozuelo, Sandra Gordon LU and Gutnichenko, Oleksandr LU (2026) 10th Conference on High Performance Cutting, CIRP-HPC 2026 In Procedia CIRP 141. p.388-393
Abstract

In hard milling operations under severe conditions, polycrystalline cubic boron nitride (PcBN) tools are commonly used. Monitoring their degradation in real time is important to maintain process stability and to reduce tool costs. To use accelerometer data sampled with relatively low sampling frequency enables efficient data collection and analysis. However, the high noise levels in machining require robust signal processing methods. Time-frequency analysis, together with reassignment and synchrosqueezing techniques, are often used for visualization and tracking of frequency variations from machining signals. These methods are effective for long signals with nonlinear frequency behavior but have limited ability to resolve frequency and... (More)

In hard milling operations under severe conditions, polycrystalline cubic boron nitride (PcBN) tools are commonly used. Monitoring their degradation in real time is important to maintain process stability and to reduce tool costs. To use accelerometer data sampled with relatively low sampling frequency enables efficient data collection and analysis. However, the high noise levels in machining require robust signal processing methods. Time-frequency analysis, together with reassignment and synchrosqueezing techniques, are often used for visualization and tracking of frequency variations from machining signals. These methods are effective for long signals with nonlinear frequency behavior but have limited ability to resolve frequency and energy content at the level of individual tool engagements. This work uses a novel form of reassigned spectrogram, designed to enhance the time-frequency readability of transient signal components. The method concentrates the energy of time-frequency components for each single engagement, enabling early detection of tool degradation mechanisms such as micro-chipping and coating spallation. Experimental data were collected during hard milling of Vanadis 4E using coated PcBN inserts, with accelerometers mounted on the workpiece. Initial results show clear changes in characteristic frequencies and energy levels associated with different degradation stages. As verification, acoustic emission (AE) data from the same experiments were analyzed and compared to the accelerometer results. The findings demonstrate that accelerometer data, when processed with the proposed method, can reliably indicate early stages of tool degradation. This approach has potential for real-time tool condition monitoring and improved tool life management in high-performance hard milling operations.

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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
@article{0e3c4195-5cba-4506-8bd4-95c5c70aa0f9,
  abstract     = {{<p>In hard milling operations under severe conditions, polycrystalline cubic boron nitride (PcBN) tools are commonly used. Monitoring their degradation in real time is important to maintain process stability and to reduce tool costs. To use accelerometer data sampled with relatively low sampling frequency enables efficient data collection and analysis. However, the high noise levels in machining require robust signal processing methods. Time-frequency analysis, together with reassignment and synchrosqueezing techniques, are often used for visualization and tracking of frequency variations from machining signals. These methods are effective for long signals with nonlinear frequency behavior but have limited ability to resolve frequency and energy content at the level of individual tool engagements. This work uses a novel form of reassigned spectrogram, designed to enhance the time-frequency readability of transient signal components. The method concentrates the energy of time-frequency components for each single engagement, enabling early detection of tool degradation mechanisms such as micro-chipping and coating spallation. Experimental data were collected during hard milling of Vanadis 4E using coated PcBN inserts, with accelerometers mounted on the workpiece. Initial results show clear changes in characteristic frequencies and energy levels associated with different degradation stages. As verification, acoustic emission (AE) data from the same experiments were analyzed and compared to the accelerometer results. The findings demonstrate that accelerometer data, when processed with the proposed method, can reliably indicate early stages of tool degradation. This approach has potential for real-time tool condition monitoring and improved tool life management in high-performance hard milling operations.</p>}},
  author       = {{Sandsten, Maria and Persson, Jonatan and Åkesson, Maria and Sridhar, Gautam and Pozuelo, Sandra Gordon and Gutnichenko, Oleksandr}},
  issn         = {{2212-8271}},
  keywords     = {{Accelerometer; Initial Tool Damage; Milling; Multitapers; Reassigned Spectrogram; Time-Frequency Analysis; Vanadis 4E}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{388--393}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Procedia CIRP}},
  title        = {{Novel Approach for Detection of Initial Tool Degradation from Hard Milling of Vanadis 4E using Coated PCBN Inserts}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.procir.2026.03.039}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.procir.2026.03.039}},
  volume       = {{141}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}