A hand tool edge tester for evaluating the sharpness and smoothness of the cutting edge of a blade for the hand tool like a knife is provided according to the invention. The knife blade is held stationary along a horizontal, longitudinal axis. A long piece of solid tape of the cuttable substrate material like Teflon moved within a reel-to-reel tape mechanism attached to a tape carriage travels simultaneously horizontally as the tape carriage moves along a longitudinal axis, and along an upwardly inclined, diagonal pathway defined by the reel-to-reel mechanism. The blade of the hand tool slices the upwardly, diagonally moving tape ribbon with the load cell measuring the cutting force exerted by the tape ribbon against the blade as it is moved along the distance of the cutting edge substantially between the hand tool handle and the blade tip. The diagonal axis for the path of the traveling cuttable substrate media tape allows the knife blade to cut the tape more easily without tearing, along with an approximate 90° angle between the blade tip and the cutting media pathway, thereby providing a more accurate measurement by the load cell of the tip portion of the blade as it slices the tape. The cutting force data produced by the load cell yields a cutting profile for the cutting edge along the hand tool blade to indicate the relative sharpness and smoothness of the cutting edge.

A hand tool edge tester for evaluating the sharpness and smoothness of the cutting edge of a blade for the hand tool like a knife is provided according to the invention. The knife blade is held stationary along a horizontal, longitudinal axis. A long piece of solid tape of the cuttable substrate material like Teflon moved within a reel-to-reel tape mechanism attached to a tape carriage travels simultaneously horizontally as the tape carriage moves along a longitudinal axis, and along an upwardly inclined, diagonal pathway defined by the reel-to-reel mechanism. The blade of the hand tool slices the upwardly, diagonally moving tape ribbon with the load cell measuring the cutting force exerted by the tape ribbon against the blade as it is moved along the distance of the cutting edge substantially between the hand tool handle and the blade tip. The diagonal axis for the path of the traveling cuttable substrate media tape allows the knife blade to cut the tape more easily without tearing, along with an approximate 90° angle between the blade tip and the cutting media pathway, thereby providing a more accurate measurement by the load cell of the tip portion of the blade as it slices the tape. The cutting force data produced by the load cell yields a cutting profile for the cutting edge along the hand tool blade to indicate the relative sharpness and smoothness of the cutting edge.

Tool wear monitoring is critical for quality and precision of manufacturing of parts in the machining industry. Existing tool wear monitoring and prediction methods are sensor based, costly and pose challenge in ease of implementation. Embodiments herein provide method and system for monitoring tool wear to estimate Remaining Useful Life (RUL) of a tool in machining is disclosed. The method provides a tool wear model, which combines tool wear physics with data fitting, capture practical considerations of a machining system, which makes the tool wear prediction and estimated RUL more stable, reliable and robust. Further, provides cost effective and practical solution. The disclosed physics based tool wear model for RUL estimation captures privilege of physics of tool wear and easily accessible data from CNC machine to monitor and predict tool wear and RUL of the tool in real-time.

Tool wear monitoring is critical for quality and precision of manufacturing of parts in the machining industry. Existing tool wear monitoring and prediction methods are sensor based, costly and pose challenge in ease of implementation. Embodiments herein provide method and system for monitoring tool wear to estimate Remaining Useful Life (RUL) of a tool in machining is disclosed. The method provides a tool wear model, which combines tool wear physics with data fitting, capture practical considerations of a machining system, which makes the tool wear prediction and estimated RUL more stable, reliable and robust. Further, provides cost effective and practical solution. The disclosed physics based tool wear model for RUL estimation captures privilege of physics of tool wear and easily accessible data from CNC machine to monitor and predict tool wear and RUL of the tool in real-time.

A horizontal jet-mechanical combined rock breaking test device and method. The device includes a horizontal base. One end of the horizontal base is provided with a multi-mode cutter head. A jet-mechanical combined cutter is provided on the multi-mode cutter head. The other end of the horizontal base is provided with a surrounding rock stress simulation bin for loading a rock sample. The multi-mode cutter head is connected to a driving mechanism, and the multi-mode cutter head is configured to advance and rotate horizontally along the horizontal base under the action of the driving mechanism, so that the jet-mechanical combined cutter is capable of acting on the rock sample.

A wear prognosis method and a maintenance method for an earth working machine are disclosed, along with an apparatus for performing the method. Provision is made that the current wear state of one or more earth working tools is sensed. The residual wear capacity until the wear limit is reached is then ascertained from the current wear state.

A method and apparatus for measuring the cutting force on a single fiber. The method includes the steps of: providing a blade having an edge; providing a fiber mount for holding the single fiber; providing at least one sensor connected to the fiber mount; providing a fiber sleeve to contain a fiber within the fiber mount to simulate the location of the hair within the hair follicle; moving the blade toward the fiber and cutting the fiber; and measuring the cutting force on the fiber with the at least one sensor.

An apparatus for testing a razor blade comprises a base, a material support table, a material sample, a transport carriage, a blade retention assembly, and a razor blade. The material support table is supported by the base. The transport carriage is movably coupled with the base and is movable with respect to the material support table between a start position and an end position. The blade retention assembly is movably coupled with the transport carriage and is movable with respect to the material support table between a blade-engaged position and a blade disengaged position. The blade retention assembly is movable together with the transport carriage between the start position and the end position. The blade is releasably attached to the blade retention assembly. The razor blade contacts the material sample when the blade retention assembly is in the blade-engaged position. Methods are also provided.

An apparatus for testing a razor blade comprises a base, a material support table, a material sample, a transport carriage, a blade retention assembly, and a razor blade. The material support table is supported by the base. The transport carriage is movably coupled with the base and is movable with respect to the material support table between a start position and an end position. The blade retention assembly is movably coupled with the transport carriage and is movable with respect to the material support table between a blade-engaged position and a blade disengaged position. The blade retention assembly is movable together with the transport carriage between the start position and the end position. The blade is releasably attached to the blade retention assembly. The razor blade contacts the material sample when the blade retention assembly is in the blade-engaged position. Methods are also provided.

A testing device that includes a wear testing device, a sensor array, and a controller. The wear testing device includes a sample rotation element configured to hold and to rotate a sample; and a cutting element holder configured to hold a cutting element and to engage the cutting element with the sample as the sample rotates. The sensor array includes an acoustic emissions (AE) sensor array comprising a plurality of AE sensors, the plurality of AE sensors configured to measure a plurality of acoustic signals generated during engagement between the cutting element and the sample; and a load sensor. The controller is communicably connected to the sensor array and configured to determine a toughness and a wear resistance of the cutting element using the plurality of acoustic signals, the applied load, and a wear state of the cutting element.