Research on chip formation parameters of aluminum alloy 6061-T6 based on high-speed orthogonal cutting model

Chip formation, an important aspect of the high-speed cutting (HSC) mechanism, is generally accepted as the result of shear deformation in the shear zone and tool-chip friction. In order to accurately study chip formation process in HSC, a theoretical model for the high-speed orthogonal cutting of aluminum alloy 6061-T6 was built, which can be used to calculate the important parameters of chip formation, such as shear angle, friction angle, length of shear plane, tool-chip contact length, and width of the first shear zone. A series of orthogonal cutting experiments, with the YG6 carbide tool and on a wide range of cutting speed (100–1,900 m/min) and feed (0.06–0.15 mm/r), were performed in order to obtain the parameters required in the model, including the cutting forces, the chip thickness, and the shear slip distance. Seven kinds of chip formation parameters were obtained with different cutting parameters in the experiment, and the built theoretical model can well explain the formation process and the morphology characteristics of these chips, which proves that the combined method of theoretical model and orthogonal cutting experiment is an effective and easy approach to obtain the parameters of chip formation in HSC, avoiding the cutting speed limitation and the safety risk in quick-stop test. Within the range of parameters set in the experiments, the chip mainly appears to be continuous chip, curling chip, or discontinuous chip. And the chip thickness, friction angle, length of shear plane, and width of the first shear zone decrease with the increase of the cutting speed; meanwhile, the shear slide distance and shear angle increase.