Abstract:
Characteristics of undeformed chip are key factors to an improvement of accuracy and reliability of cutting process simulation since they directly impact on cutting forces, tool life, and surface integrity. Traditional characteristics of undeformed chip can be considered from an overlapping of two imaginary circular cutting edges with the same radius as an endmill cutter. It is different from a real cutting path that appears to be a trochoid. This paper presents a tool to simulate a motion of straight flute cutting edges in slotting operation. The mathematical models of cutting path were implemented in conjunction with VBA programming for AutoCAD which can be response to changes in feed per tooth (fz), number of flutes (zn), and cutting speed (vc) of the endmill cutter. According to analysis results of the undeformed chip during full slotting under the recommended cutting conditions and diameter of each cutter, it was found that there are significantly differences among characteristics components between the traditional model and trochoid path including entering angle, exiting angle, chip length, and instantaneous chip thickness which directly impact on further analyses of cutting forces, tool life, and surface integrity with these parameters.