Measuring temperature of rotating cutting tools: Application to MQL drilling and dry milling of aerospace alloys

After a brief bibliography on temperature measurement during drilling and milling, this paper proposes a new temperature measuring system for rotating cutting tools. The new system is composed firstly of a thermocouple integrated into the drill or into the mill and positioned as close as possible to the cutting face and near the cutting edge. To achieve the collect and the transmission of the temperature signals to the acquisition system, a data conditioning system and a wireless transmitter unit were incorporated into a special tool-holder. A Radio Frequency Antenna placed in the proximity of the tool holder completes the measuring system. This system was used with success in studies for aeronautic industry. The first one consisted to optimize the cutting conditions during drilling of Ti6Al4V titanium alloy with a minimal quantity of lubricant (MQL). The objective of the second one was to test the thermal behavior of three different coated tools during dry milling of an aeronautic aluminum alloy. The paper presents some of these experimental results and demonstrates the efficiency of the proposed temperature measurement technique. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.