Chaotic vibrations in a regenerative cutting process

We have analysed vibrations generated in an orthogonal cutting process. Using a simple one degree of freedom model of the regenerative cutting, we have observed the complex behaviour of the system. In presence of a shaped cutting surface, the nonlinear interaction between the tool and a workpiece leads the to chatter vibrations of periodic, quasi-periodic or chaotic type depending on system parameters. To describe the profile of the surface machined by the first pass we used a harmonic function. We analysed the impact phenomenon between the tool and a workpiece after their contact loss. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.