Tool Wear

Tool wear is the progressive loss of material and shape from a cutting edge caused by abrasion, adhesion, diffusion, oxidation, deformation and chipping. It appears mainly as flank wear, crater wear, notch wear and edge chipping.

As the edge cuts, hard particles abrade it, workpiece material welds to and tears it, and high temperatures drive diffusion and oxidation. Flank wear forms a land on the clearance face and is the most common measure of wear. Crater wear forms a hollow on the rake face, typical at high cutting temperatures. Notch wear appears at the depth-of-cut line, and thermal cracking, plastic deformation, built-up edge, chipping and fracture complete the main failure modes.

As tools wear, cutting forces and power rise, dimensions drift, surface finish deteriorates and burrs grow, until parts fall out of tolerance or the edge fails. Machinists read wear patterns to diagnose problems; for example, rapid flank wear often points to excessive cutting speed or an unsuitable grade, while chipping points to vibration or insufficient edge toughness.

Wear is managed with wear offsets, tool life limits, in-process measurement, spindle load monitoring and periodic inspection under magnification. ISO 3685 describes how flank and crater wear are measured for tool-life testing with single-point turning tools. Wear rates vary between tool batches and workpiece lots, so limits are usually set with a safety margin.

Key points

Caused by abrasion, adhesion, diffusion, oxidation and mechanical damage
Main forms are flank, crater and notch wear, chipping and fracture
Worn tools raise forces, drift dimensions and degrade finish
ISO 3685 defines wear measurement for turning tool-life tests

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Tool Wear

Key points

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Related terms

Terms that refer to Tool Wear