34th INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON

PRODUCTION ENGINEERING
28. - 30. September 2011, Ni, Serbia
University of Ni, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering
THE EFFECTS OF TOOL FLANK WEAR ON TOOL LIFE
M. Milutinovi, Lj. Tanovi
Tehnikum Taurunum, High Enigineering School of Vocational Studies, Nade Dimi 4, Zemun, Serbia
Department of Production Engineering, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University of Belgrade, Kraljice Marije 16,
Belgrade 11120, Serbia
mmilutinovic@tehnikum.edu.rs, ltanovic@mas.bg.ac.rs
Abstract: The development and application of cutting tools made of superhard materials as a
precondition for increasing the productivity of machining requires higher costs of tools. Since tool life is
closely related to tool wear, it can be influenced by the knowledge about the tool workpiece interaction
mechanism. Starting from the Merchants model of orthogonal cutting and by introducing the effects of
the tool flank wear height BL and the concentrated force on the cutting edge, it is arrived at the novel
concept of consideration of the forces acting in the chip formation process. The increase of the radial
force developed as a consequence of tool flank wear is taken for the tool wear criterion. The mentioned
concept makes possible the prediction of tool flank wear height as well as tool life under manufacturing
conditions with concrete values of cutting parameters.
Key words: Tool life, Flank wear, Orthogonal cutting

1. INTRODUCTION
Tool wear is an important factor that directly affects the
productivity and surface quality. Traditionally, at the
production environment, a tool change was based on
experience or the quality of machined surface. In the early
nineties of the last century there was a transition from
traditional to automated tool change with the idea that
implies possibility of monitoring the amount of wear on
the cutting tool edges during the cutting process. With the
development of computer this on-line monitoring of the
tool wear is gaining more importance [2].
Previous studies in the field of monitoring tool wear in a
metal cutting process where based on measurement of
the: cutting forces, stress/strain measurement, work piece
dimensions, spindle motor torque and the surface finish
quality.
The paper emphasizes the influence of the flank wear
height at the clearance face on tool life and the forces that
appear. The starting point is basic Merchants model of
chip formation in orthogonal cutting. As the cutting forces
increase with increasing of the flank wear height it is
necessary to complete Merchants model that would
include: flank wear, forces caused by flank wear,
concentrated force acting at the cutting edge and force for
chip formation. The presence of wearland has been found
to have no effect on the basic model of chip formation
and basic cutting quantities such as: shear angle, shear
stress on the shear plane and friction angle. Existence of
flank wear in the vicinity of the cutting edge resulting in
an additional force of rubbing or ploughing at the
clearance face results in increased thrust force. Based on
completed Merchants model and predominant adhesion
wear mechanism it is possible to define tool life using

cutting speed, feed and flank wear height, which is the

efficient mathematical model that predicts tool life in
production environment.
Prediction of the tool life in production environment is
important because it provides good machined part in
manned factories so that a new tool may be introduced at
the instant at which the existing tool is worn out, thus
preventing any hazards occurring to the machine or
deterioration of the surface finish.
Forms of the tool wear occurring during metal cutting
When mating surfaces of the tool and workpiece are
brought together as the result of their contact the
following forms of tool wear occur: adhesion, abrasion,
diffusion and oxidant wear [2].
The more predominantly occurring forms of cutting tool
wear often identified as the principal types of tool wear in
metal turning using single-point tools are nose, flank,
notch and crater wear. Nose wear or edge rounding occurs
predominantly through the abrasion wear mechanism on
the cutting tools major edges. Flank wear arises due to
both adhesive and abrasive wear mechanism from the
intense rubbing action of the two surfaces in contact, i.e.
the clearance face of the cutting tool and the newly
formed surface of the workpiece. Increasing the height of
the flank wear leads to deterioration of the surface finish
and to increased heat generation [3].

2. ORTHOGONAL CUTTING ANALYSIS

Tools cutting wedge penetrates in the workpiece under
the influence of the resultant force F acting on the back of
the chip and opposite to the resultant force F ' acting on
the shear plane (cutting resistance). In Fig. 1 is shown
orthogonal cutting-Merchants model. A single straight

cutting edge with a plain face and flank is used to cut a

workpiece of constant width at a constant cut thickness.

Vst

VS

F2izm F2 I
F1izm F1I

arctan arctan

F1 - primary cutting force, F2 -radial force,

- normal rake angle, - friction angle,

- shear angle, V - resultant cutting
velocity,
Vs - shearing velocity,

(6)

F1izm F1I ) cos ( F2izm F2 I ) sin

bt

(7)

primary cutting force, F2 izm - as measured radial force.

Vst - chip flow velocity.

CHIP

Fig. 1. Orthogonal cutting-Merchants model

Shear
plane

Orthogonal cutting-Merchants model assume the

following: perfectly sharp tool with no concentrated edge
force on the cutting edge, a continuous chip, plane strain,
uniform shear stress distribution on the shear plane, and
equilibrium of the under the action of equal and opposite
resultant force acting at the shear zone and tool-chip
interface, resultant cutting velocity V and chip flow
velocity Vst are perpendicular to the cutting edge.

F1

bt cos( )
sin cos

(1)

F2

bt sin( )
sin cos

(2)

1

4 2

where: F1I - concentrated force component in the

direction of the primary cutting force for extrapolated
zero cutting thickness, F2 I - concentrated force
component in the direction of the radial force for
extrapolated zero cutting thickness, F1izm - as measured

- resultant cutting force,

F
arctan arctan 2
F1

sin

Ft - tangential force , Fn - normal force,

Fs - shearing force , Fsn -normal force in the
shearing plain ,

(5)

bt

Further development to the thin shear zone analysis, in

addition to the force for chip formation Rs , is the
introduction of the following forces: concentrated force
acting at the cutting edge R I and wearland force Rh
representing the completed Merchants model, Fig.2.
Concentrated force acting at the cutting edge is
manifested by the positive force intercepts when the
measured force is extrapolated to zero cut thickness [4].
When Mercants model includes concentrated force R I
equations (1), (2), (3), (5) have been modified when
evaluating and , i.e.

90

F1 cos F2 sin sin

(3)

F '
Rs

BL
'
R
R
h

aFN

'
I

Rs

F2 s R Rh
I
F1s
F1I F
F2 I F2 h 1h

TOOL

WORKPICECE

Fig. 2. Completed Merchants model of orthogonal

cutting [4]
Total cutting force can be represented by

F1 F1s F1I

bt cos( )
k1b
sin cos( )

F2 F2 s F2 I

bt sin( )
k 2b
sin cos( )

(8)

(9)

where: F1s - chip formation force component in primary

cutting force direction,
(4)

F2 s - chip formation force

component in radial force direction, k1 i k 2 are

concentrated edge force intensity factors.
Equations (6) and (7) describe correlation between
friction angle and shear stress considering concentrated
edge force. Since the cutting edge is perfectly sharp only
at the very beginning of the cutting process the question
posed on the trend of the basic cutting quantities such as:
friction angle, shear stress and shear angle when
completed Merchants model would include wear land
height B L . It has been suggested by many researchers
that since the cutting edge is not perfectly sharp, a
rubbing or ploughing process could occur in the vicinity
of the cutting edge increasing total cutting force, in
addition to the force for chip formation and the
concentrated edge force. If the tool wear land height B L
does not affect the basic cutting quantities: friction angle,
shear stress, shear angle etc., its effect on the cutting
process will be an additional ploughing or rubbing forces
that can be introduced in a similar way as the edge force
and the force for chip formation.
Wangs experimental results have proved that the wear
land height does not affect the values of the basic cutting
quantities (shear stress, friction angle and shear angle)
[4]. During the turning of carbon steel with cutting tool
grade P20 carbide flat-top insert on CNC lathe machine at
various cutting parameters (depth of cut, cutting speed,
tool geometry and flank wear height)
cutting force
components, friction angle and shear angle were
measured considering depth of cut a , Fig. 3.

F[N
1 ]

a)

3000

2000

1000

0.05

F[N
2 ]

0.15
b)

2000

0
5

c)

20

15
10
0.05

[]

0.15

8
5
0
5

0.25

d)

20

15

10
0.05

0.15

8
5
0
5

a [mm]

0.25

Fig. 3. Experimental trends in orthogonal cutting with

tool wear ( V 200m / min, BL 0.6 mm) [4]
Figure 3. shows that increase of rake angle results in a
decrease of two force components, while the shear angle
and friction angle are independent of the cutting
depth a . Fig. 4. shows the measured force components
with respect to the depth of cut at different wearland sizes
BL . Flank wear results in a substantial increase in two
force components F1 and F2 because of the increased
ploughing or rubbing action on the wearland.

F[N
1 ]

0.25

3000

8
5

[]

8
5

2000

0
5

BL 0 mm
BL 0.2 mm

1000

BL 0.4 mm

1000

BL 0.6 mm
0.05

0.15

0.25

a [mm]

0.05

0.15

0.25

a [mm]

F[N
2 ]
2000

1000

the workpiece in the radial force direction F2 h ,which

leads to the following equations [1]:

BL 0 mm

'

BL 0.2 mm
BL 0.4 mm

BL
t

K1v s

BL 0.6 mm

0.15

0.25

a [mm]

Fig. 4. Influence of tool flank wear height on the force

components (V 100m / min, 5) [4]
Experimental results show that there is no effect of the
wearland height B L and depth of cut a on the shear
angle and friction angle which means that the
forces generated by increase of the flank wear can be
treated in the same way as the concentrated edge force
and force for chip formation.
From the previous considerations, the overall cutting
force for cutting with tool flank wear may be a result of
the forces required for chip formation in the shear zone
and tool-chip interface, the concentrated edge force and
the rubbing forces on the wearland generated due to
friction between the clearance face of the cutting tool and
the newly formed surface of the workpiece. Based on the
completed Merchants model, the overall cutting force
components can be established based on Eqs. (8) and (9),
i.e.

F1 F1s F1I F1h

bt cos( )

sin cos( )
(10)

k1b F1h

F2 F2 s F2 I F2 h

bt sin( )

sin cos( )
(11)

k 2 b F2 h
where: F1h - rubbing force between the clearance face
of the cutting tool and the newly formed surface of the
workpiece in the primary cutting force direction, F2 h rubbing force between the clearance face of the cutting
tool and the newly formed surface of the workpiece in the
radial force direction.
Completed Merchants model includes force analysis
occurring in orthogonal cutting with special reference to
rubbing forces generated between the clearance face of
the cutting tool and the newly formed surface of the
workpiece which is typical for adhesion wear model.
According to the fundamental law of adhesion wear,
adhesion flank wear volume per unit length is
proportional to the rubbing force between the clearance
face of the cutting tool and the newly formed surface of

where:
0.05

'

F2 h Kv a s b BLc

F1h K1v a s b BLc

(12)

(13)

a ' , b ' , c ' , a, b, c, , , , K , K1 are

constants to be evaluated by the experiment; v - cutting

velocity ; s - feed, BL - flank wear height, t - tool life.
According to ISO3685 tool is worn when flank wear
height reaches threshold criterion BL 0.6mm . Based
on equation (13) tool life can be determined in production
environment.
3. CONCLUSION
The paper emphasizes the influence of the flank wear
height at the clearance face on tool life and the forces that
appear in two ways. The first one represents the
completed Merchants model of orthogonal cutting which,
in addition to force for chip formation, comprises
concentrated edge force and rubbing or ploughing force
generated by increase of the flank wear or rubbing
between clearance face of the cutting tool and the newly
formed surface of the workpiece. The second way
represents mathematical model that defines the correlation
between tool life, cutting velocity, feed and flank wear
height. Mathematical model is based on the fundamental
law of adhesion wear. This leads to efficient prediction of
tool life in production environment which is very
important because it provides good machined part in
manned factories so that a new tool may be introduced at
the instant at which the existing tool has been worn out,
thus preventing any hazards occurring to the machine or
deterioration of the surface finish.

REFERENCES
[1] CHOUDHURY, S., K., APA RAO, I. (1998)
Optimization of cutting parameters for maximizing
tool life, Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture,
39, pp 343-353.
[2] DIMLA, E., DIMLA, SNR. (2000) Sensor signals for
tool-wear monitoring in metal cutting operations-a
review of methods, Journal of Machine Tools &
Manufacture, Vol. 40, pp 1073-1098.
[3] SALGAM, H., YALDIZ S., UNSACAR, F. (2005)
The effect of tool geometry and cutting speed on main
cutting force and tool tip temperature, Materials and
design, Vol.28, pp 101-111.
[4] WANG, J., HUANG, C.Z. (2003) The effect of tool
flank wear on the orthogonal cutting process and its
practical implications, Journal of Materials
Processing Technology, 142, pp 338-346.