Study of elementary micro-cutting in hardened tool steel

Abstract

In order to model micro-milling cutting forces, a way is to apply a local model on discretized elements of the cutting edge and then summing on the whole edge to obtain the global cutting forces. This local model is usually obtained by numerical simulation or cutting experimentation. This paper focuses on orthogonal and oblique micro-cutting experiments of AISI 6F7 with tungsten carbide tools. Results show the influence of cutting edge sharpness on cutting forces and the existence of different mechanisms corresponding to different ranges of uncut chip thickness values. A phenomenological model has been identified to model correctly these zones. Then, by comparing experimental micro-milling forces with those deduced from these micro-cutting model and tests, a good agreement has been found. In order to complete this study, phenomenological and thermo mechanical models are being developed. The aim is to obtain an elementary cutting model that can be used for micro-milling simulation and optimization.