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Title: Experimental study of the temperature field generated during orthogonal machining of an aluminium alloy

By: K.M.Vernaza-Pena, J.J.Mason and M.Li.

Date: 2002

Publication: Experimental Mechanics, 42(2), 221-229.

Abstract:
During the machining of metals, plastic deformation and friction lead to the generation of heat in the workpiece which results in thermomechanically coupled deformation. Recentlu, several numerical models of this highly coupled process have been produced in response to the increased interest in high speed machining. it is important to characterize the thermal field in cutting zone in order to completely verify these models of high speed machining and direct further advancement in this area. in this work, HgCdTe infrared detectors are used to experimentally measure the temperature distribution at the surface of a workpiece during orthogonal cutting. from these temperature measurements, the heat generated in the primary shear zone and friction zone can be examined and characterized. A modified Hopkinson bar technique has been developed to perform orthogonal machining at speeds ranging between 10 to 100m/s. In the present work, a cutting velocity of 15m/s is employed in all the tests in order to demonstrate the capability of the apparatus and characterize thermal fields during low speed machining. Temperature fields are obtained during the orthogonal cutting of aluminium as a function of depth of cut. it is seen that depth of cut can vary both the maximum temperature as well as the distribution of the temperature field in the aluminium workpiece. the maximum temperature increased with depth of cut(238 oC for 1.5mm cut, 207 oC for 1.0 mm cut and 138 oC for 0.5mm cut) and the temperature field extended further beneath the cut surface with decreasing depth of cut.