5G-Industry Campus Europe - 5G smart sensor for tool breakage detection by means of acoustic emission during milling

 

The stability of a machining production process and the quality of the component depend to a decisive extent on the condition of the tool used. As a rule, cutting tools reach the end of their service life due to continuous wear on the cutting and flank surfaces. The higher the wear condition of the tool, the greater the cutting force required. In the worst case, a too high load spectrum can lead to tool breakage, i.e. to tool failure. At the same time, the condition of the tool has a decisive influence on the quality of the finished workpiece. For these reasons, monitoring the wear condition of the tool is of significant importance.

One possibility to monitor tool breakage and the wear condition of the tool is the use of the so-called structure-borne sound sensors or acoustic emission sensors. Mobile, component-bound sensors offer higher quality signals due to an increased proximity to the process, which is beneficial for process monitoring. In addition, the avoidance of cables allows the use of sensors in kinematically complex processes. 5G enables the operation of distributed sensor systems in battery mode and the wireless transmission of large amounts of data at low latencies, which is necessary for structure-borne sound sensors in order to monitor highly dynamic processes in real time and to intervene in a timely manner.

The goal of the presented project is the development of a solution for modular expandability of machines and plants. Among other things, this enables application-oriented process monitoring and control solutions to increase the performance of processes for different products. A new, innovative, technological approach consisting of 5G wireless technology with sensor networks is being pursued. This method enables the production of complex workpieces without surface defects and tolerance violations, which can be caused by tool breakage and wear phenomena during machining.