Dynamics of the Metal-Cutting Process

Abstract

An investigation into the dynamics of the metal-cutting process has been carried out using analytical and experimental approaches. An exploratory analysis into the dynamic behavior of the cutting process revealed such dynamic properties as a loop response of the cutting forces caused by the waviness of the work surface. This finding indicates the possibility of unstable behavior of the cutting process in itself. It was possible to describe analytically the phase between the force response and fluctuations of uncut chip thickness for the case of a wavy work surface. Effects of the magnitude of the shear angle as well as of its fluctuations have been studied which make it possible to correlate the instability within the cutting process to the properties of the work material. Apart from the configuration of the cutting process, its physical properties, such as inertia forces in chip formation, have been introduced into the analysis because inertia forces, negligible at steady state, may grow significant if cutting conditions are fluctuating at higher frequencies. An experimental setup has been devised and built featuring a special design of a tool dynamometer particularly suitable for the measurement of dynamic response of the cutting forces. In the setup, a cutting tool activated by a hydraulic shaker is controlled in an average position by a feedback loop mechanism. This setup makes it possible to obtain a record of the dynamic response of cutting forces caused by the fluctuation of uncut chip thickness produced by an oscillating tool in the frequency range up to about 400 cps.