The tool wear of cutting tools has a very strong impact on the product quality as well as on the efficiency of the machining processes. Despite the current high automation level in the machining industry, a few key issues prevent complete automation of the entire turning process. One of these issues is tool wear, which is usually measured off the machine tool. Therefore, its in-line characterization is crucial. This paper presents an innovative, robust and reliable direct measurment procedure for measuring spatial cutting tool wear in-line, using a laser profile sensor. This technique allows for the determination of 3D wear profiles, which is an advantage over the currently used 2D subjective techniques (microscopes, etc.). The use of the proposed measurement system removes the need for manual inspection and minimizes the time used for wear measurement. In this paper, the system is experimentally tested on a case study, with further in-depth analyses of spatial cutting tool wear performed. In addition to tool wear measurements, tool wear modelling and tool life characterization are also performed. Based on this, a new tool life criterion is proposed, which includes the spatial characteristics of the measured tool wear. The results of this work show that novel tool wear and tool life diagnostics yield an objective and robust methodology allowing tool wear progression to be tracked, without interruptions in the machining process or in the performance of the machining process. This work shows that such an automation of tool wear diagnostics, on a machine tool, can positively influence the productivity and quality of the machining process. Keywords: machining process, tool wear measurement, spatial tool wear, in-line monitoring, volumetric estimator, tool life prediction Highlights • Newly developed measuring system to determine spatial cutting tool wear in-line. • Spatial cutting tool wear measurements were performed on a case study. • Tool wear modelling and tool life characterization has been performed. • A new tool life criterion is proposed.

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