On the processing and morphological aspects of metal fibers based on low-speed multi-tooth dry cutting

Abstract

This study presents an investigation on both the processing and morphological aspects of cutting-based metal fibers. A self-designed multi-tooth cutter is used to efficiently make continuous long fibers under a low-speed dry-cutting condition. A finite element method-aided analysis is conducted to elucidate the mechanisms of this method. Based on both simulated and experimental results, it is found that fiber morphology shows different characteristics when different processing parameters are used. Moreover, the fiber structure and appearance also significantly depends on the mechanical properties of raw materials. It is shown that the Cu fiber belongs to flow chip due to highly plastic deformation, while the hardened Cu–Be, Cu–Be–Ni alloy and SUS316L fibers exhibit fractured features. The combined segmented vertical fins and sawtooth structures can be periodically formed on the Cu–Be fibers under an appropriate condition. Besides these findings, the effects of sintering condition on the fiber morphology are also reported in this work.