A Boundary Element Method Analysis of the Thermal Aspects of Metal Cutting Processes

Abstract

In this paper, the boundary element method (BEM) approach is used to analyze the thermal aspects of steady state metal cutting processes. Particular attention is paid to modeling of the boundary conditions at the tool-chip and the chip-workpiece interfaces. Since the velocities in each of the regions are different, the heat transfer within the tool, the chip, and the workpiece are first calculated separately. A complete model for heat transfer during steady state turning is then obtained by matching the boundary conditions across the primary and the secondary shear zones. An exact expression for matching is developed to avoid any iterations. The temperature fields within the workpiece, the chip, and the tool for various processing conditions are obtained and presented. The numerical results obtained by the BEM are also compared to Jaeger solutions and existing FEM results reported in the literature. The BEM is found to be efficient and robust for this class of steady state conduction-convection problems.