Burr Height in Shear Slitting of Aluminum Webs

Abstract

Continuous shear slitting of aluminum sheets (or webs) was investigated using a laboratory slitter. This study focused on experimental investigation of the effect of three major slitting parameters (clearance, overlap, and cant angle) on the burr height. It was found that there exists a critical clearance in shear slitting of aluminum webs; using a clearance higher than the critical value leads to unacceptable burr height. The blade overlap must be within a certain range; using an overlap below the lower bound of this range will not enable the cut of a web, and utilizing an overlap higher than the upper bound of the range produces high burrs. A relatively large cant angle produces good slit edge quality but at the expense of the blade service life; a relatively small cant angle gives reasonable edge quality while maintaining a reasonable blade service life. Based on results on burr height for four aluminum webs, a relation linking the critical clearance to the slitting parameters and the web properties is presented. This can be used for selection of an appropriate clearance to produce good slit edge and low burr height for a given aluminum web.