Computer simulation of single-point diamond turning using finite element method

Abstract This paper presents a FEM simulation model for the analysis of cutting mechanics in single-point diamond turning (SPDT). The model is built based on an adaptive meshing approach and pure deformation technique which addresses the mesh distortion problem due to large deformation existing in the chip formation process of cutting. In modeling the chip formation, a pure deformation technique is employed to address the deficiency of the conventional FEM model built based on chip separation criterion. This method not only eliminates the need of the use of the chip separation criterion and a pre-defined parting line, but also achieves a more realistic and physically based chip formation. Since the tool edge radius has comparable size to the uncut chip thickness in SPDT, the proposed FEM model makes use of a round edge cutting tool model instead of the perfect sharp tool edge model that has been adopted in most previous research work. A series of FEM simulation of SPDT of aluminum material is performed by choosing ABAQUS as the computing platform. The FEM simulation experiments yield the chip formation and distribution of strain/stress field. The morphological features of the chip formation are revealed, which agree well with the previous studies.