A technique for the identification of friction at tool/chip interface during machining

Numerical simulation of chip formation during high speed machining requires knowing the friction at tool/chip interface. This parameter is hardly identified and generally the loadings (temperature, force) during the identification are not similar to those encountered during machining. Thus, Coulomb friction identified with pin-on-disc device is often used to conduct numerical simulation. The used of this technique cannot leads to good numerical results of chip formation compared to the experimental tests especially in the case of low uncut chip thickness. In this contribution, we propose a new method to evaluate the friction at tool/chip interface. In fact several Coulomb friction parameters are identified corresponding to several parts of the cutting tool. Experimental tests have been conducted allowed us to determinate both the level and the distribution of the Coulomb friction. Experimental results are also compared to the results of orthogonal cutting simulation. We show that this technique allows predicting accuracy results of chip formation.