An Integral Approach to the Investigation of High Speed Metal Cutting

Abstract

High speed cutting (HSC) has been used widely in the metal machining industry. However, applications and investigations have shown that to optimize an HSC process, many issues need to be understood, such as the fluctuations of cutting forces and residual stresses. Extensive studies have found that these fluctuations are originated from the shear banding during chip formation and from the work-material properties influenced by the coupled attack of high strain rate and high temperature rise during cutting. Due to the complexity of the material deformation mechanisms during HSC, both experimental examination and theoretical analysis are essential. This keynote presentation reviews an integral approach of the author’s team to establishing the investigation chain of experimental analysis, constitutive modelling and numerical simulation to tackle the intricacy of HSC-induced deformation. It points out that while an experimental examination can provide insightful understanding of the deformation mechanisms, it is often limited to a narrow range of testing conditions. A numerical simulation can overcome such experimental difficulties through large-scale parametric studies, but can also bring about erroneous results if the constitutive behavior of a workpiece material is improperly described.