Chip geometries during high-speed machining for orthogonal cutting conditions

The originality of this work consists in taking photographs of chips during the cutting process for a large range of speeds. Contrary to methods usually used such as the quick stop in which root chips are analyzed after an abrupt interruption of the cutting, the proposed process photographs the chip geometry during its elaboration. An original device reproducing perfectly orthogonal cutting conditions is used because it allows a good accessibility to the zone of machining and reduces considerably the vibrations found in conventional machining tests. A large range of cutting velocities is investigated (from 17 to 60 m/s) for a middle hard steel (French Standards XC18). The experimental measures of the root chip geometry, more specifically the tool-chip contact length and the shear angle, are obtained from an analysis of the pictures obtained with a numerical high-speed camera. These geometrical characteristics of chips are studied for various cutting speeds, at the three rake angles -5, 0, + 5 degrees and for different depths of cut reaching 0.65 mm. (c) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.