The Effect of Strain Rate on Chip Formation and Cutting Process During High-Speed Cutting of A6061 Aluminum Alloy

Abstract

Nowadays, increasing productivity and quality of machining become major challenges of the metal cutting process. Due to the complexity of the chip formation process at high cutting speeds, the finite element method (FEM) has been widely used as an approximate solution. In the metal cutting, the chip formation is essentially concerned with the large strains and the high strain rates. In this chapter, two numerical models with and without strain rate effects are proposed. An appropriate model is then verified by comparing the simulated cutting forces under varying cutting parameters. The simulation model with strain rate is consistent with the experimental value, whereas the model without strain rate underestimates the cutting forces. The strain rate also modifies the cutting forces owing to the stresses that occurred at cutting regions and significantly affected by the strain rate.