Tool Remaining Useful Life Prediction in Robotic Machining of Composite Materials Based on Mechanical Vibrations

The development of materials and methods used in the aircraft manufacturing industry has been advancing in order to provide a reliable and light aircraft. The use of composite materials becomes indispensable, meanwhile, the processing of this kind of material must be studied to obtain the higher manufacturing efficiency and the best quality of the final product. Industry 4.0 concepts as internet of things, cloud computing and others can be used to fulfil these demands. In this sense, this study aims to create a remaining useful life prediction model for the tools used on the machining of composite materials with robotic manipulators. This task is performed by monitoring and analyzing the mechanical vibrations of the motor assembly and the cutting tool, then reducing the consumption of this material and ensuring the quality and surface integrity of the finished parts. The self-awareness of the process is improved by combining signal processing algorithms and statistical techniques to assist the constant monitoring of the tool wear. In this sense, a digital model is constantly updated aiming the optimization of the cutting process. In the conclusions of the paper, the advantages and drawbacks of the proposed methodology are presented.