SIMULATIONS AND EXPERIMENTS ON MACHINING CARBON AND LOW ALLOY STEELS AT RAKE FACE TEMPERATURES UP TO 1200°C

Abstract

Finite element simulations are reported of the machining of carbon and low alloy steels at speeds from 50 to 300 m/min and feeds from 0.125 to 0.3 mm/rev. Their mechanical models include yield delay (resulting in an upper yield point followed by a yield drop). Predictions are compared with experimentally measured cutting and thrust forces, shear plane angles and rake face temperatures (from tool-work thermocouple measurements) in these conditions. Agreements are generally within 10% for all quantities, except that some uncertainty arises from comparing the semi-orthogonal experimental with the plane strain simulation data.