Effects of Trace Elements on the Microstructural and Machinability Characteristics of Al–Si–Cu–Mg Castings

This study was undertaken to emphasize the influence of Sn and Bi addition on the machinability of Sr-modified, grain-refined, and heat-treated Al–Si B319 and 396 alloys. Drilling and tapping tests were conducted to examine the cutting forces, tool life, tool wear, built-up edge evolution, and chip shape. Microstructures were examined using optical and electron microscopy. Drilling test results show that the B319.2 alloy with 0.15%Sn yields the longest drill life, i.e., twice that of the B319.2 alloy containing 0.5%Bi, and one-and-a-half times that of the B319.2 alloy containing 0.15%Sn + 0.5%Bi. The presence of 0.5%Bi in the B319.2 alloy causes a deterioration of drill life (cf., 1101 holes with 2100 holes drilled in the B319.2 alloy containing 0.15%Sn). The α-Fe phase in the 396 alloy produces the highest number of holes drilled compared with alloys containing sludge or β-Fe. The presence of sludge decreases the drill life by 50%. Built-up edge (BUE) measurements and optical photographs show little change in the BUE width for different numbers of holes except for the B319.2 alloy containing 0.5%Bi, which shows a slightly lower width (0.166 mm) compared with that containing 0.15% Sn (0.184 mm) or 0.15%Sn + 0.5%Bi (0.170 mm).

Effect of Process Modes on Tangential Component of Cutting Force during Belt Rotary Grinding of Aluminium Alloy Blanks D 16

These days, in the manufacture of units and mechanisms of ships, aircraft and other technological machines, industrial robots, long-sized products from D 16 (Standart GOST-R) aluminum alloy are used, for the processing of which a complex for belt rotary grinding has been developed. The outcome measures of the rotary belt grinding process depend on the cutting forces generated during the processing process. According to cutting forces, process stability is diagnosed, values of surface roughness indices, temperatures and cutting modes are calculated according to displacement balance equation. The article is devoted to obtaining a mathematical model establishing the relationship between the tangential component of the cutting force and cutting modes during belt rotary grinding of D 16 aluminum alloy.

Prediction of Cutting Force and Chip Formation from the True Stress–Strain Relation Using an Explicit FEM for Polymer Machining

In the present work, an explicit finite element (FE) model was developed for predicting cutting forces and chip morphologies of polymers from the true stress–strain curve. A dual fracture process was used to simulate the cutting chip formation, incorporating both the shear damage failure criterion and the yield failure criterion, and considering the strain rate effect based on the Johnson–Cook formulation. The frictional behaviour between the cutting tool and specimen was defined by Coulomb’s law. Further, the estimated cutting forces and chip thicknesses at different nominal cutting depths were utilized to determine the fracture toughness of the polymer, using an existing mechanics method. It was found that the fracture toughness, cutting forces, and chip morphologies predicted by the FE model were consistent with the experimental results, which proved that the present FE model could effectively reflect the cutting process. In addition, a parametrical analysis was performed to investigate the effects of cutting depth, rake angle, and friction coefficient on the cutting force and chip formation, which found that, among these parameters, the friction coefficient had the greatest effect on cutting force.

Fracture energy for orthogonal cutting in unidirectional CFRP at different cutting directions

A unidirectional carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) laminate is a composite material made up of strong parallel carbon fibres incorporated in a polymer matrix such as epoxy to provide high stiffness and strength in the fibre direction of the laminate. Unfortunately, the interlaminar or intralaminar plane of this material has a low resistance to damages as the fracture toughness of a unidirectional CFRP laminate is related to the energy dissipation during the orthogonal cutting. The aim of this study is on cutting a unidirectional CFRP along the longitudinal or transverse directions, characterizing orthogonal cutting forces and the related fracture energy. Orthogonal cutting is performed using braised carbide tools for a range of cutting depth of 10-100 ³m with a rake angle of 30° to quantify the cutting forces and to observe the fracture mechanisms. The fibre orientations have a significant impact on surface bouncing-back. For some fibre orientations, the energy balance model is applicable, deducting the reasonable value of fracture toughness due to high normal force (F t). Fibre subsurface damage and cutting forces during cutting are found to be strongly influenced by the cutting depth. The input energy of cutting is released in form of new surface energy, fibre breakage, high bending energy, and chip fracture energy.

METHOD FOR CALCULATING CUTTING FORCES BY MODELING CAD WITH A SYSTEM OF GEOMETRIC CUTTING PARAMETERS WITH RADIAL MILLS

The accuracy of processing surfaces of a complex profile largely depends on the selected processing strategy, which will allow creating the same, within certain limits, power characteristics of the shaping process at the intervals of the programmed tool path. In this case, it becomes possible to include tuning modules in programs for CNC machines that form vector values of corrections in certain areas, as reactors for elastic deformations of the cutting process. Therefore, it is especially important to know the modulus and direction of the resulting cutting force vector, which does not necessarily coincide with the feed direction. The purpose of this work is to build a method for calculating cutting forces by modeling the geometric parameters of a cut with a CAD system, a cutter with a nonlinear generatrix. Solid modeling of the process is based on the Boolean operations of "intersection" and "subtraction" of 3D objects: the teeth of a radius cutter with a helical cutting edge and a workpiece "moving" at a feed rate. The tool for the implementation of this method is a software module created on the basis of API functions, the input data for which are: a 3D tool and a workpiece, the equation of the trajectory of its movement and the parameters of the infeed movement. Targeting API properties, the application makes it possible to simulate various trajectories, helical or trochoidal, when machining complex surfaces. In the future, it is possible to take into account the plastic deformation processes in the chip formation zone in the model by connecting external modules. In the course of the conducted research on milling with radial end mills with a helical cutting edge, when two or more teeth are within the arc of contact, it was determined by 3D modeling how much thickness and width the layer cuts off each of the teeth during the feed per revolution. Consequently, in the process of shaping, normal and tangential cutting forces, which are different in direction and modulus, are present as a function of the angle of rotation of the cutter. Therefore, the concept of "circumferential force on the cutter", accepted in the theory of cutting, as a certain constant component of the process, can introduce an error when considering the causes of the excitation mechanism of vibrations of different nature that arise in the processing zone.

Mechanistic modeling of cutting forces in high-speed microturning of titanium alloy with consideration of nose radius

Microturning is a micromechanical machining process used to produce microcylindrical or axially symmetrical parts. Microcylindrical parts are mainly used in microfluidic systems, intravenous micromotors, microsurgical applications, optical lens applications, and microinjection systems. The workpiece diameter is very small in microturning and therefore is greatly affected by the cutting forces. For this reason, it is important to predict the cutting forces when machining miniature parts. In this study, an analytical mechanistic model of microturning is used to predict the cutting forces considering the tool nose radius. In the semi-empirically developed mechanistic model, the tool radius was considered. A series of semi-orthogonal microturning cutting tests were carried out to determine the cutting and edge force coefficients. The mechanistic model was generalized depending on the cutting speed and depth of cut by performing multilinear regression analysis. In the study, the depth of cut (ap = 30–90 µm) and feed values (f = 0.5–20 µm/rev) were selected considering the nose radius and edge radius of the cutting tool. The experiments were carried out under high-cutting speeds (Vc = 150–500 m/min) and microcutting conditions. Ti6Al4V alloy was used as the workpiece material and the tests were carried out under dry cutting conditions. Validation tests for different cutting parameters were carried out to validate the accuracy of the developed mechanistic model. The results showed that the difference between the mechanistic model and the experimental data was a minimum of 3% and a maximum of 24%. The maximum difference between the experimental and the model usually occurs in forces in the tangential direction. It has been observed that the developed model gives accurate results even at a depth of cut smaller than the nose radius and at feed values smaller than the edge radius.

Enhancing Wear Resistance and Cutting Performance of a Long-Life Micro-Groove Tool in Turning AISI 201

Tool-chip friction increases cutting temperature, aggravates tool wear, and shortens the service life of cutting tools. A micro-groove design of the rake face can improve the wear performance of the tool. In this study, we used the finite element simulation “Deform” to obtain the temperature field distribution of the tool rake face. The size of the micro-groove was determined by selecting a suitable temperature field combined with the characteristics of tool–chip flow in the cutting process, and the tool was prepared using powder metallurgy. The three-direction cutting forces and tool tip temperature were obtained by a cutting test. Compared with the original turning tool, the cutting force and cutting temperature of the micro-groove tool were reduced by more than 20%, the friction coefficient was reduced by more than 14%, the sliding energy was reduced and the shear energy was greatly decreased. According to the analysis of tool wear by SEM (scanning electron microscope) and EDS (energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy), the crater wear, adhesive wear and oxidation wear of the micro-groove tool were lower than those of the original turning tool. In particular, the change in the crater wear area on the rake face of the original tool and the micro-groove tool was consistent with the cutting temperature and the wear width of the flank face. On the whole, the crater wear area and the change rate of the crater wear area of the micro-groove tool were smaller. Due to the proper microgroove structure of the rake face, the tool-chip contact area decreased, and the second rake angle of the tool became larger. Hence, the tool-chip friction, cutting forces, cutting energy consumption were reduced, tool wear was improved, and the service life of the micro-groove tool was five times longer than that of the original tool.