Thermo-mechanical modeling of orthogonal machining process by finite element analysis

A plane strain finite element method is used with a new material constituti ve equation for 1020 steel to simulate orthogonal machining with continuous chip formation. Deformation of the workpiece material is treated as elasti c-viscoplastic with isotropic strain hardening, and the numerical solution accounts for coupling between plastic deformation and the temperature field , including treatment of temperature-dependent material properties. To avoi d numerical errors associated with large deformation of elements, automatic remeshing is used, with at least 15 rezonings required to achieve a satisf actory solution. Effects of the uncertainty in the constitutive model on th e distributions of strain,. stress and temperature around the shear zone ar e presented, and the model is validated by comparing average values of the predicted stress, strain, strain rate and temperature at the shear zone wit h experimental results. Parametric effects associated with cutting speed an d initial work temperature are considered in the simulations. (C) 1998 Else vier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.