TY - JOUR AU - da Silva, Tatiany Mafra AU - Diniz, Anselmo Eduardo AU - Coelho, Reginaldo Teixeira PY - 2021 DA - 2021/03/01 TI - Experimental evaluation of the minimum uncut chip thickness (MUCT) in AISI H13 steel, using the end milling operation JO - The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology SP - 1431 EP - 1447 VL - 113 IS - 5 AB - The increasing market demand for smaller products requires the development of micromachining processes. This, in turn, enhances the importance of knowledge about the phenomenon of chip formation and its characteristics at the microlevel. Conventional machining generally assumes that the tool cutting edge is perfectly sharp, and that it usually does not affect the chip formation process. However, in micromachining, the magnitude of the edge radius (re) is often the same as that of the chip thickness, thus significantly affecting the process. Moreover, the study of chip formation at the microlevel is even more complex. In micromachining, as the chip thickness decreases, it reaches a minimum thickness at which a chip is still formed, called the minimum uncut chip thickness (MUCT). Therefore, the purpose of this work is to use an experimental method, based on milling, to reach the MUCT (hmin) by simulating a micromilling operation. AISI H13 steel was used in two conditions: hardened and as received, with around 60 and 25 HRc, respectively. The experiments were performed according to a novel method simulating end milling in orthogonal cut. It was found that hmin varied from 0.56re to 2.5re, and that this range depends not only on re but also on the material being machined and on the mechanical compliance of all the equipment used in the test. Based on the theory of contact mechanics, it was possible to explain that a chip is formed only after the cutting edge has attained the necessary stresses to cause failure of the material being tested, and this knowledge is fundamental to understand the occurrence of hmin. In addition, the method used here was successful in reaching hmin values typically obtained in milling conditions. Using the same method proposed herein, future studies of MUCT can be performed employing even conventional machine tools. SN - 1433-3015 UR - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-021-06710-6 DO - 10.1007/s00170-021-06710-6 ID - da Silva2021 ER -