Modelling of temperature history during machining of cast aluminium alloy

Abstract

In recent years, most manufacturing industry would like to embrace dry machining, for both environmental and economic reasons, but the effect of the omission of the cutting fluid on the surface quality is not well researched. The plastic deformation and the heat are critical because they could degrade the performance of the machined surface. This paper presents a developed 2D finite element model of peripheral milling process for determining the temperature history of the machined layer. The work material is cast aluminum alloy A356 and its flow stress is taken as a function of strain, strain rate and temperature in order to reflect realistic behavior in machining process. Temperature-dependent material properties are also employed in the analysis. The chip separation is achieved by the adaptive remeshing strategy. From the simulation, a lot of information on peripheral milling process can be obtained; cutting force, cutting temperature, chip shape, temperature distribution, etc. The temperature history of the machined layer can be reported by conducting a point tracking. The predicted temperature profile at conventional cutting speeds and high speed machining are obtained. The finite element model appears to be perfectly representative of peripheral milling process and can be used to predict instantaneous temperature profiles and temperature history into the depth of the workpiece.