Calculation of life reliability of ceramic cutting tools by Monte Carlo simulation

Under the conditions of continuous cutting, the wear induced by abrasion is the principal failure mechanism for the ceramic cutting tools. The tool life is determined by fracture toughness, hardness and cutting condition parameters. Fracture toughness and hardness of a certain kind of cutting tool material can be acquired by way of Monte Carlo simulation. The cutting parameters are determined by cutting experiments. Then the tool life and reliability can be calculated by the combination of the specimens with cutting process parameters. It is proved that the reliability is primarily affected by the fracture toughness of the cutting tool material so that the tool reliability can be conveniently estimated by this parameter.