Assessment of flank wear and nose radius wear from workpiece roughness profile in turning operation using machine vision

Although literature on the measurement of flank wear and crater wear in single-point turning tools using machine vision is well documented, the study on the effect of nose radius wear on the roughness profile and dimensional changes of workpiece is less explored. The measurement of flank wear using the 2-D profile of the tool nose region or the roughness profile of the workpiece has also not been attempted in the past. In this work, the nose radius wear of cutting tools and roughness profile of turned parts in a lathe operation were measured using the machine vision method. The flank wear width VB_C in the nose area was determined from the nose radius wear using the tool setup and machining geometry. The nose radius wear was also determined from the roughness profile of the workpiece and used in calculating the flank wear width. Comparison between the maximum flank wear width VB_Cmax determined from the roughness profile and that obtained using a toolmaker’s microscope showed a mean deviation of 5.5%. This result indicates that flank wear can be determined fairly accurately from the workpiece roughness profile if the tool and machining geometry are known.