A novel finite element investigation of cutting force in orthogonal cutting considering plough mechanism with rounded edge tool

The plough phenomenon generated by the micro-scale cutting edge plays an important role in tool wear, chip formation and surface integrity. In this study, the plough mechanism in orthogonal cutting with rounded edge tool is investigated by finite element method (FEM). The separation line is developed to determine the contact behavior between rounded edge tool and workpiece. Especially, the workpiece material flow is explored in detail with the definition of separation line. Three contact regions are identified and three frictional force components along the cutting edge are proposed. Then, the Johnson-Cook constitutive model and Johnson-Cook ductile damage criteria are used to describe the plastic deformation and damage mechanics in the cutting simulation with ABAQUS. A developed method based on finite element analysis is proposed to identify three force components individually, including separation line determination based on nodal displacement and three contact region determination with partition function. The accuracy and correctness of the novel FEM model are validated by a series of orthogonal cutting processes. Moreover, the nonlinearly increase relationship between specific cutting energy and edge radius is discussed considering size effect.