On-machine measurement of milling tool wear using confocal imaging technique

To facilitate on-machine 3D tool reconstruction and wear measurement for milling cutters, this paper introduces an innovative on-machine measuring device that leverages the confocal imaging technique. This device allows for the direct acquisition of the tool’s geometric parameters from the CNC machine tool. Subsequently, G-codes are generated based on the acquired tool data to precisely orchestrate the machine tool’s movements, facilitating confocal 3D imaging of the milling cutter. By analyzing the resulting point cloud data, tool wear can be effectively evaluated. Experimental results demonstrate a high degree of correlation between the tool wear measurements obtained from our system and those from a commercially available measurement system. Furthermore, the measured diameters, helix angles, rake angles, and clearance angles of both square end milling cutters and ball nose end milling cutters were found to closely match their specified nominal values.