Design of a cutting force monitor for a turning process

The importance of monitoring the cutting force in the turning process has been well recognized in industryas well as the open literature. Even though the most common technique for this purpose is a cutting force dynamometer, this is not alwavs adequate and sometimes not feasible to use for some lathe. To circumvent these problems, Model-Based Monitoring (MBM) approaches can be applied to estimate the cutting force in most machine tools. Based on a preciously published design procedure for MBM systems, a successful model-based monitor is designed and demonstrated through cutting tests in a lathe. Advantages and limitations of the monitor are also discussed from the factory environment viewpoint.