Research on Chip Shear Angle and Built-Up Edge of Slow-Rate Machining EN C45 and EN 16MnCr5 Steels

Abstract

One of the phenomena that accompanies metal cutting is extensive plastic deformation and fracture. The excess material is plastically deformed, fractured, and removed from the workpiece in the form of chips, the formation of which depends on the type of crack and their propagation. Even in case of the so-called ‘continuous’ chip formation there still has to be a fracture, as the cutting process involves the separation of a chip from the workpiece. Controlling the chip separation and its patterning in a suitable form is the most important problem of the current industrial processes, which should be highly automated to achieve maximal production efficiency. The article deals with the chip root evaluation of two EN C45 and EN 16MnCr5 steels, focusing on the shear angle measuring and built-up edge observation as important factors influencing the machining process, because a repeated formation and dislodgement of built-up edge unfavorably affects changes in the rake angle, causing fluctuation in cutting forces, and thus inducing vibration, which is harmful to the cutting tool. Consequently, this leads to surface finish deterioration. The planing was selected as a slow-rate machining operation, within which orthogonal and oblique cutting has been used for the comparative chips’ root study. The planned experiment was implemented at three levels (lower, basic, and upper) for the test preparation and the statistical method, and regression function was used for the data evaluation. The mutual connections among the four considered factors (cutting speed, cutting depth, tool cutting edge inclination, and rake angle) and investigated by the shear angle were plotted in the form of graphical dependencies. Finally, chips obtained from both steels types and within both cutting methods were systematically processed from the microscopic (chip root) and macroscopic (chip pattern) points of view.