Recently, there is growing interest in optimisation of finishing process thanks to the technologies to follow online the wear of cutting tools. In the present paper, one of the cheapest and simplest non-contact methodologies is described in detail and investigated with robustness evaluation. To simulate the finishing operation of a die, in this study, two cavities were designed in AISI H13 steel. Different inserts corresponding to PVD-(Ti,Al)N coated cemented carbide tool were tested. The described methodology is easy to be applied in manufacturing cutting machining with the opportunity to be implemented on machining processes to follow reasonably wear process of cutting tools.
Keywords: cutting tools; surface morphology; wear kinetics.