Experimental setup for in-process measurements and analysis of wear-dependent surface topographies

High-strength and corrosion-resistant materials, such as the nickel-based superalloy Inconel 718, are widely used in the energy and aerospace industries. However, machining these materials results in high process forces and significant tool wear. This tool wear has a negative effect on the resulting surface topography. Nevertheless, the accuracy requirements for functional surfaces are extreme high. Simulation systems can be used to design these processes. However, time-consuming and cost-intensive experiments often have to be conducted to develop and parameterize the required models. To overcome this problem, an analogy test setup for in-process measurements of wear-dependent properties was developed, which allows a multi-level evaluation of the process. By combining different measurement techniques, wear-dependent process characteristics can be determined and analyzed and, thus significantly reducing the measurement effort typically required.