A Reconfigurable Manufacturing System is thus one that is able to adapt its production capacity to market demands and its functionality to a new product line, or to innovative technological changes. One of the three key components of RMS is reduction in ramp-up time. In this presentation, the basic issues involved in ramp-up time reduction will be briefly outlined, followed by a more detailed discussion on the process monitoring component. Specifically, we will address the basic mechanisms involved in sound generation as the cutting tool wears during machining. This investigation will provide a basis for determining the optimum set of sensors needed for any reconfigured machining system, and also for developing appropriate signal processing algorithms for tool failure detection.
Adhesive wear is considered as the predominant wear mechanism.
The analysis incorporates the dynamics of the cutting process. In modeling the interaction on the flank surface, the asperities on the surfaces are represented as a trapezoidal series function. The effect of changing asperity height, size, and the spacing between consecutive asperities on the spectral characteristics of sound signals is investigated and compared with experimental data.