Investigating the influence of friction conditions on finite element simulation of microscale machining with the presence of built-up edge

In micromachining, the uncut chip thickness is less than the cutting tool edge radius, which results in a large negative effective rake angle. Depending on the material properties, this large negative rake angle promotes built-up edge (BUE) formation. A stable BUE acts like a cutting edge and affects the mechanics of the process. The size of the BUE increases with increasing uncut chip thickness and cutting speed. It also creates a positive rake angle, but it decreases the clearance angle of the tool. A method of including BUE formation in finite element simulations is to use sticking friction conditions at the tip of the tool. However, this approach is shown to be insufficient to simulate BUE formation in microscale machining. Therefore, the cutting edge is modified with the experimental BUE size in the finite element simulations based on experimental measurements. The influence of friction models between BUE and the work material has been investigated, and the study identifies friction coefficients that yield good agreements with experimental results. The finite element model is shown to be capable of simulating process forces and chip shapes for uncut chip thickness values larger than minimum uncut chip thickness.