Numerical Simulation of Cutting Force and Temperature Field in High Speed Machining of Titanium Alloys

Improvements in manufacturing technologies require better modeling and simulation of metal cutting processes. A fully thermal-mechanical coupled finite element analysis (FEA) was applied to model and simulate the high speed machining of TiAl6V4. The development of serrated chip formation during high speed machining was simulated. The effects of rake angle on chip morphology, cutting force and the evolution of the maximum temperature at the tool rake were analyzed with the finite element model. The simulation results show that the segmented chip formation results in cutting force fluctuation. Although the segmentation frequency of the chip increases with the increase of the rake angle, the degree of segmentation becomes weaker and the cutting force fluctuation amplitude decreases. The predicted temperature distribution during the cutting process is consistent with the experimental results given in a literature.