Towards Reliability Analysis: Experimental Characterization of Angle Grinder Load Profiles Considering Tool Wear and Workpiece Material Effects

Product design and reliability predictions require a detailed understanding of the operational loads acting on technical systems. This is particularly relevant for remanufactured products in circular production systems, where the reliability of each unique product depends on its usage history. As these usage histories are ultimately reflected in the loads acting on the system, realistic and representative load profiles are required for their interpretation for reliability models. Previous studies have captured load profiles of angle grinders under realistic conditions, capturing the influence of the user and application. However, key influencing factors of load profiles, including tool wear and workpiece material, remain to be investigated. Given their unavoidable presence in practice, these factors must be analyzed within realistic application scenarios. However, no experimental setup has been presented that can capture comprehensive load profiles while accounting specifically for the influence of tool wear and workpiece material. To address this gap, a user study and an experimental setup were developed to acquire realistic load data on angle grinders, building upon the state of the art. An angle grinder with integrated sensors was used in user studies to capture external loads during cutting and grinding steel and aluminum. The proposed setup allows mechanical, electrical and thermal measurements, as well as tool wear, to be acquired and analyzed under realistic operating conditions. This expands upon existing load acquisition approaches by incorporating the influence of the workpiece material and tool wear. Measurements confirm the feasibility of the setup and demonstrate its capability to capture relevant variations in operational loads. These initial findings establish a methodological foundation for building representative load datasets incorporating tool- and material-dependent influences. The study therefore forms an important step towards translating complex operational loads into the unique usage histories required for accurate, instance-specific reliability analysis within the framework of the Circular Factory.

Keywords: Load Profile, Experimental Setup, Tool Wear, Reliability, Angle Grinder, Circular Factory.