Monte Carlo simulation of nanometric cutting

Abstract

Nanometric cutting of single-crystal materials at conventional cutting speeds (5 m s⁻¹) is simulated for the first time using a new Monte Carlo method that is applicable to systems that are neither canonical nor microcanonical. This is accomplished by defining a local temperature in the cutting zone using the thermal analysis developed by Komanduri and Hou for conventional machining. Extension of this method to the nanometric regime permits an accurate estimate of the local temperature in cutting. This temperature is then employed in the Boltzmann probability distribution function that is used to determine the acceptance–rejection of Monte Carlo moves in the simulation. Since cutting speed is closely related to cutting temperature, the cutting speed enters the calculation via the thermal analysis equations. The method is applied to nanometric cutting of single-crystal aluminium with the crystal oriented in the (001) plane and cut in the [100] direction. Three positive rake cutting tools, namely 10°, 30° and 45°, are employed to investigate the effect of the rake angle on the forces, the specific energy and the nature of the chip formation. The method is evaluated by direct comparison with corresponding molecular dynamics simulations conducted under the same conditions.

Acknowledgements

This project is funded by grant DMI-0200327 from the National Science Foundation. Thanks are due, in particular, to Dr W. DeVries, Dr G. Hazelrigg, Dr J. Chen and Dr D. Durham of the Division of Design, Manufacturing, and Industrial Innovation, to Dr B. M. Kramer, of the Engineering Centers Division, and to Dr J. Larsen Basse of Tribology and Surface Engineering program for their interest in and support of this work. One of the authors (R.K.) also thanks the A. H. Nelson, Jr. Endowed Chair in Engineering for additional support for this activity. This project was also sponsored by a DEPSCoR grant on the Multiscale Modeling and Simulation of Material Processing (F49620-03-1-0281). The authors thank Dr Craig S. Hartley of the AFOSR for his interest in and support of this work.