
Chandula Wickramarachchi
Project Title: Automated testing of advanced cutting tool materials
Academic Supervisor: Dr Elizabeth Cross
AMRC Supervisors: Dr Tom McLeay and Dr Sabino Ayvar-Soberanis
Industrial Sponsor: Element Six Ltd.
Chandula's research interests are in condition monitoring, structural health monitoring, dry turning with Polycrystalline cubic Boron Nitride (PcBN) tools, understanding and modelling tool wear and the mechanics of chip formation.
Currently Chandula is working on building a detailed knowledge of chip formation and tool wear mechanisms in turning which includes finite element modelling of the tool and work-piece interactions for the relevant materials.
She is planning to design and build a test rig for unmanned cutting tool testing using a lathe, where automatic tool wear inspection, surface finish measurement and process monitoring systems are integrated within the operation.
Chandula is also conducting statistical analysis of experimental data to identify tool wear trends and process robustness. The techniques she has used so far include multiple linear regression, auto regressive models, moving average auto regressive models and novelty detectors.
Publications:
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Maurotto A, Wickramarachchi C.T (2016) Experimental investigations on effects of frequency in ultrasonically-assisted end-milling of AISI 316L: A feasibility study. Ultrasonics, 65, 113-120