INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ADVANCES IN MACHINING AND FORMING OPERATIONS,

Vol. 2 No. 2, July-December 2010, ISSN : 0975-4784

IJAMFO
International Science Press

A SIMPLIFIED ANALYSIS AND EXPERIMENTAL

VALIDATION OF CHIP BREAKING IN ORTHOGONAL
MACHINING WITH A STEP TYPE CHIP BREAKER
N. S. DAS*, C. K. BISWAS & B. S. CHAWLA

ABSTRACT: In the present investigation, an attempt is made to examine chip

breaking by a step-type chip breaker using the rigid-perfectly plastic slip line
field theory. Orthogonal machining is assumed and the deformation mode is
analyzed using the solutions proposed earlier by Kudo and Dewhurst.Machining
parameters such as chip thickness, chip curvature and bending strain are
computed for different chip breaker positions and height. The extent of Material
damage is assessed from the cumulative shear strain suffered by the material in
passing through the primary and secondary deformation zones. The range of
values of machining parameters for effective chip breaking is established from
actual cutting tests. The experimental results are compared with the theoretical
limits predicted by the slip line field analysis.
Keywords: Orthogonal Machining, Sharp Tool, Step Type Chip Breaker, Chip
Curvature, Breakability Criterion, Chip Breaker Design.
NOMENCLATURE

Fb

= Chip breaker force

F1 ,F2

= Forces perpendicular and parallel to chip breaker force

Fc

= Cutting force

Fc/kt0
H

= Specific cutting energy

= Height of the chip breaker

HTR

= H/ to

I
M
CL
P, Q
p C, p D

=
=
=
=
=

Rchip

= Radius of the chip curvature

Unit matrix
Moment exerted by the sliplines AB and BC
Linear Coulomb/adhesion friction operator
Standard matrix operators
Hydrostatic pressure at points C and D

* Corresponding Author: ns_das2000@yahoo.co.in, Fax.: 0674-2460743

INTERNATIONAL J OURNAL

152

OF

A DVANCES

IN

MACHINING

AND

F ORMING O PERATIONS

Rchip /t0

= Normalized radius of curvature

W
WTR

= Position of the chip breaker from the cutting edge of tool

= W/t0

Vc

= Cutting speed

c
k

= Column vector representing a circle of unit radius of curvature

= Yield stress in shear of the work material

= a constant

t0

= Uncut chip thickness

tchip

= Chip thickness

1 , 2

= Angles made by the primary shear line with free surfaces

= Linear coefficient

b , p , s , t

= Breaking, Primary, Secondary and Total shear strains

= Orthogonal rake angle of cutting tool

= Low stress level friction coefficient

, , , ,

= Slipline field angles

= Angular velocity of chip curl

C , D , E

= Friction angles between sliplines and tools rake face

= Scale parameter representing the geometrical scale of the field

= Normal stress

= Shear stress

1.

INTRODUCTION

Modern high-powered machine tools with cutting tools of sintered carbide have increased the
rate of chip formation and it has become necessary to produce properly broken chips for
convenient handling and disposal. The problem attains serious proportions especially in turning
and boring operations where, the tool removes metal for a considerable period and the chips
produced in the form of long ribbons can present serious hazard to the machine tool, machine
operator and also damage the machined surface by scuffing. This has made it necessary to have
proper control on shape and size of chips by bringing into use chip breakers of various forms.
The main purpose of these devices is to produce tightly curling chips and direct them in such
a manner that they strike the work piece or flank face of the cutting tool resulting in intermittent
fragmentation of chips.
A number of studies have been carried out in the past to identify the variables affecting
chip breaking during high speed machining. The mechanism of chip breaking by ramp and
step-type chip breakers has been investigated experimentally by Nakayama (1962), Trim and
Boothroyd (1968), Henriksen (1953,1954) and Subramanian et al. ((1965). The action of a

A SIMPLIFIED ANALYSIS

AND

E XPERIMENTAL V ALIDATION

OF

CHIP BREAKING

153

groove type chip breaker has been studied by Worthington and Redford (1973), Worthington
(1976), Worthington and Rahman (1979), Jawahir (1986) and Wang and Jawahir (2007).
These studies have indicated that in metal machining the controlling parameters influencing
chip breaking are the uncut chip thickness t0, the chip thickness tchip and the radius of chip
curvature Rchip and that the chip breaks when the ratio (t0/Rchip) or (tchip/Rchip) or some function
of these ratios such as the bending strain exceeds a threshold value (Worthington and Rehman,
1979: Jawahir, 1986: Nakayama, 1963: Takayama et al, 1970}. Chip breaking has also been
shown to be linked with the cumulative damage suffered by the material in passing through
the deformation zones (Athavale and Strenkowski, 1997) or with the specific cutting energy
consumed in the chip removal process (Grzesik and Kwiatkowska, 1997). It therefore appears
that for predicting chip breaking under a given set of machining conditions an accurate estimate
of the above parameters is essential.
A lot of effort has been undertaken during the last two decades to establish suitable criteria
for chip breaking. Finite element simulation of chip formation and chip breaking has been
attempted by Shimozoa et al (1996) and by Yang et al (1996). A hybrid algorithm for predicting
chip form /chip breakability has been advanced by Fang, Fie and Jawahir (1996), while a
quantitative relationship between chip breakability and tool wear has been proposed by Yao
and Fang (1993) using neural network. Methods for performance evaluation of Chip breakers
has also been proposed by Lee et al (2006) and Kim at al (2009). Despites these efforts,
however, a comprehensive analysis of the problem of chip control is still difficult and its
solution is generally approached using some empirical rules with limited degree of success.
In the present investigation an attempt is made to predict chip breaking using the rigidplastic slip-line field theory. Orthogonal machining is assumed and the analysis is carried out
for a parallel step-type chip-breaker. Machining parameters such as shear strain; bending
strain, chip thickness and chip curvature are computed for different chip-breaker positions and
height and their values for effective chip breaking is established from actual cutting tests. The
experiment results are also compared with those predicted from theoretical analysis.
2.

SLIPLINE FIELDS

Two slipline field solutions for orthogonal machining with a steptype chip breaker were
analysed in the present investigation. These are shown in Figures 1 and 2 with their associated
hodographs. Solution I shown in Figure 1 (Kudo,1965) is obtained when the slip line field
proposed by Lee and Shaffers (1951) for chip streaming is modified to account for machining
with chip curl.
Referring to this figure it may be seen that the plastically stressed region consists of the
primary shear line ABD and the secondary shear zone BCD. The chip boundary is defined by
ABC where, BC is the line and AB the line. Within BCD the deforming material slides on
the tool face CD in accordance with the adhesion friction law given by the equation (Maekawa
et al,1997).

n
= 1 e k

(1)

154

INTERNATIONAL J OURNAL

OF

A DVANCES

IN

MACHINING

AND

F ORMING O PERATIONS

(a)

(b)
Figure 1: (a) Solution I with Chip-breaker (b) Hodograph for Corresponding
Field (not to Scale)

A SIMPLIFIED ANALYSIS

AND

E XPERIMENTAL V ALIDATION

OF

CHIP BREAKING

155

where, and n are respectively the shear stress and normal stress at any point on the tool face
within chip/tool contact region, k is the yield stress in shear of the deforming material, is the
low stress level coefficient of friction, and n is a constant whose value depends on tool-work
material combination.
Referring to the hodograph (Figure 1 (b)) it may be seen that the material suffers a
velocity discontinuity of magnitude on crossing the primary shear line. Hence, velocity
along the slipline DBA is represented by the circular arc db in the hodograph. Since the chip
is rotating rigidly with angular velocity , the curves ab and bc in the hodograph are
geometrically similar to the curves AB and BC in the slipline field respectively. Hence,
slipline curve BA is also a circular arc of radius /.
This field is of direct type and the column vector for the radius of curvature of the
slipline CB is calculated from the relationship:

= .CLD .c

(2)

Where, CL D is the linear operator that constructs the field between the circular arc db
and the tool face dc consistent with the adhesion friction condition given by equation (1)
(Dewhurst,1984: Dewhurst,1985) and c is a column vector representing a unit circle.

(a)

156

INTERNATIONAL J OURNAL

OF

A DVANCES

IN

MACHINING

AND

F ORMING O PERATIONS

(b)
Figure 2: (a) Dewhursts Solution with the Geometry of Chip-breaker and Cutting Tool
(b) Hodograph for Corresponding Slip-line Field (not to Scale)

The second field analysed in the present investigation is shown in Figure (2) and consists
of the primary shear line AE, the secondary shear zone CDE and a singular field BCE
(Dewhurst,1978: Dewhurst,1979)). The chip boundary for the field is defined by the convex
-line AB, concave -line DC and the convex line BC.
It may be seen that the material suffers a velocity discontinuity of magnitude on crossing
the primary shear line (Figure.2 (b)). Thus, the velocity along the slipline EBA is given by
the circular arc eba. Since the chip is rotating rigidly with angular velocity , the lines AB, BC
and CD are geometrically similar to their hodograph images ab, bc and cd.
This solution is of indirect type and the slipline DC for this field is obtained by solution
to the matrix equation (Dewhurst,1979: Maity and Das,2001).

( I CL

Q Q CL C DC = CL P c

(3)

Where P and Q are standard matrix operators as discussed by Dewhurst and Collins (1973),
CL is the linear operator as explained earlier, I is the unit matrix and c is a circle of unit
radius.

A SIMPLIFIED ANALYSIS

AND

E XPERIMENTAL V ALIDATION

OF

CHIP BREAKING

157

It may be seen that in Figure.1 and Figure.2 the chip after emerging from the deformation
region encounters a chip breaker of height H placed on the tool face at a distance W from the
cutting edge. This imposes a curvature on the outgoing chip and helps in breaking long continuous
chips to smaller sizes.
3.

METHOD OF ANALYSIS

The slipline fields shown in Figure.1 and Figure.2 are characterized by the field angles , ,(),
hydrostatic pressure pC (pD) at points C(D) and the chip breaker distance WRT (=W/to). These
variables are determined from the stress and velocity boundary conditions at the rigid plastic
chip boundary. These conditions may be stated as,
(a) The resultant traction perpendicular to the chip breaker force must be zero (smooth
chip breaker).
(b) The net anti-clockwise moment on the chip due to chip breaker force and the forces at
the rigid-plastic chip boundary must be zero.
(c) The outer radius of chip curvature Rc imposed by the chip breaker must be compatible
with that calculated from the hodograph.
Referring to Figure.1 and Figure.2 the above conditions may be expressed mathematically
as:
F1 = 0
(4)
M + Fb x d = 0

(5)

Rc Rchip = 0

(6)

Equations (4-6) are non-linear in the field variables and these were solved by an algorithm
developed by powell for solution to non-linear algebraic equations with unknown derivatives
(Koester and Mize,1973). For prescribed values of friction parameters and n, the field
parameters , Pc (Po) and WTR were assumed to be correctly estimated when the sum of the
squares of the residuals were less than 10 10. These optimized variables were then used to
construct the fields and estimate the machining parameters. The program incorporated mass
flux and flatness checks as discussed by Maity and Das (1998,2001). The program was terminated
when the friction angle at tool tip became negative or when the rigid vertices at A (Figure 1
and Figure 2) were overstressed (Hill, 1954).
Solutions 1 is unique in the sense that the field involves only three variables. Dewhursts
solution is nonunique in nature as there are four field variables and there are only three
conditions from which these are determined.
Once the field variables were known and the fields plotted, the streamlines of flow could
be constructed and strains in the primary and secondary shear zones estimated. The procedure
followed was similar to that discussed in detail by Das et al (2005). A representative flow
pattern for a specific field configuration is also indicated in Figure 3.

158

INTERNATIONAL J OURNAL

OF

A DVANCES

IN

MACHINING

AND

F ORMING O PERATIONS

Figure 3: Dew Hursts Slip-line Field with Streamlines (Chip Breaker not Shown)

4.

ESTIMATION OF BREAKING STRAIN

The chip breaking process has been studied by Fang and Jawahir (1996) and according to these
authors the chip breaks due to the development of fracture on the outer profile of the chip (or
on the inner profile of the curled chip) when it reaches its highest degree of straining and its
final up-curl radius. This strain may be given by the equation. (Nakayama, 1963).
tchip 1
1

(7)
2 Rchip RL
Where, tchip is the chip thickness, Rchip is the outer radius of chip flow circle imposed by the
chip breaker and RL is the final up-curl radius.
RL is usually much larger than Rchip.Worthington (1979) considered RL to be 2 times Rchip.
However, as indicated by Nakayama (1963) RL is rather difficult to predict a priori and has
only marginal influence on chip breaking. Hence, neglecting the contribution of RL , the breaking
strain b may approximately be given by the relation,
b =

tchip
b =

2 Rchip

(8)

A SIMPLIFIED ANALYSIS
5.

AND

E XPERIMENTAL V ALIDATION

OF

CHIP BREAKING

159

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The results from the present theoretical analysis are illustrated in Figures. 4-8 where these are
compared with the experimental observations obtained from orthogonal cutting tests carried
out by the authors. The figures indicate that as WTR increases, the total shear strain t the
primary shear strain p and specific cutting energy (Fc/kt0) increase while the bending strain b
and the secondary shear strain s (= 10-15 % of t) decrease (Figures.4 and 5). Chip of curvature
(Rchip/t0) also increases with WTR (Figure.6). Thus moving the chip breaker away from the
cutting edge not only renders it less effective but also results in consumption of more power in
the chip formation process. These observations from Dewhursts solution (Figure.2) are in
close agreement with those reported by the authors by solution to the slip line field proposed
by kudo (Das et al,2005). There is also seen to be close relation between breaking strain b and
chip curvature (Rchip/t0) as predicated by equation (8) with most of the experimental points
lying within the bounds predicted by Kudos solution and Dewhursts solution (Figure 7).
Figure.8 shows some chip breakability criteria as constructed by the present slip line field
analysis and their comparison with the experimental results (authors) from actual cutting tests.
The chips in the above figure are classified as under broken, affectively broken or over
broken according to the ease of their disposability (Henriksen,1953: Henriksen, 1954). It is
assumed that affectively broken chips have a radius of curvature of approximately 6mm (Fang
and Jawahir,1996) and that these are produced when the bending strain b in the chip has a
value within the range proposed by Jawahir (1986) or Takayama et al (1970). The figure

Figure 4: Variation of t, p, s and b with Chip-breaker Position,

N = Negative Friction Angle Limit

160

INTERNATIONAL J OURNAL

OF

A DVANCES

IN

MACHINING

AND

F ORMING O PERATIONS

Figure 5: Variation of Total Strain t and Specific Cutting Energy (F c/t0) with Chip-breaker Position
and Rake Angle , N = Negative Friction Angle Limit

Figure 6: Variation of Breaking Strain, b and Radius of Chip Curvature

with Chip-breaker Position

A SIMPLIFIED ANALYSIS

AND

E XPERIMENTAL V ALIDATION

OF

CHIP BREAKING

Figure 7: Variation of Breaking Strain b with Normalized Radius of Curvature

Figure 8: Comparison of Various Chip Breaking Criterion,

Numbers within Brackets Indicate References

161

INTERNATIONAL J OURNAL

162

OF

A DVANCES

IN

MACHINING

AND

F ORMING O PERATIONS

indicates that as the chip breaker moves away from the cutting edge (WTR increases) b,
(t0/Rchip) and (tchip/Rchip) decrease while the total strain t (material damage) and specific cutting
energy (Fc/kt0) increase. It, therefore, appears more appropriate to base the breakability criteria
on b or (t0/Rchip) or (tchip/Rchip) rather than on material damage or specific cutting energy since
a less effective chip breaker is associated with decreased values of these parameters. The figure
also shows very good agreement between theory and experiment especially in the effective and
under - breaking regions.
Figure.6 demonstrates how the present theoretical analysis can be utilized to determine the
position of the chip breaker during actual machining operations. For given values of W and t0
(WTA = W/t0), the bending strain b in the chip can be estimated from this graph. If it lies
within the proposed range (Jawahir,1986: Takayama et al, 1970) the chip will certainly break
and its radius of curvature can be determined from a plot of (Rchip/t0) vs. WTA For example in
the present experimental study effectively broken chips (Rchip = 6mm) were produced while
machining with feed values of 0.12mm /revolution and 0.24mm/revolution with the chip
breaker positioned at 3.96mm (WTA = 33) and 4.32mm(WTA = 18) from the cutting edge
respectively. The chip breaker height HTA for the above two cases were 10mm and 5mm as
shown in the above Figure. It may be seen that the bending strain in the chips for the above
two cases were 0.065 and 0.039 which are very close to the suggested values.
7.

CONCLUSIONS

Two slip line field models are analyzed for orthogonal cutting with step-type chip breaker
assuming adhesion friction at chip tool interface. For both the fields the chip thickness, chip
curl radius and total plastic strain suffered by the material in the primary and secondary shear
zones and specific cutting energy are estimated for various chip breaker positions and height.
It is shown that the total strain and primary strain increases as the chip breaker moves away
from the cutting edge, while the bending strain and the secondary shear strain, decrease. The
analysis suggests that the chip thickness, chip curvature and the bending strain are the most
important parameters that govern chip breaking. The theoretical and experimental results
show very good agreement with those obtained earlier by Jawahir and Takayama et al.
REFERENCES
[1]

Athavale S. M., Strenkowski J. S., (1997), Material Damage Based Model for Predicting Chip
Breakability, J. of Manuf. Sc. and Eng., 119, pp. 675-680.

[2]

Dewhurst P. and Collins I.F., (1973), A Matrix Method for Constructing Slip Line Field
Solutions to a Class of Plane Strain Plasticity Problems, Int. J. Numer. Math. Engg., 7, pp. 357378.

[3]

DewHurst P., (1978), On the Nonuniqueness of the Machining Process, Proc. R. Soci.
London, Ser A360, pp. 587-610.

[4]

Dew Hurst P., (1979), The Effect of Chip Breaker Constraints on the Mechanics of the
Machining Process, Ann. CIRP, 28 (1), pp.1-5.

[5]

DewHurst P., (1984), The Coulomb Friction Boundary Value Problem in Plainstrain Slipline
Field Theory, Advanced Technology of Plasticity II, pp. 1085-1090.

A SIMPLIFIED ANALYSIS

AND

E XPERIMENTAL V ALIDATION

OF

CHIP BREAKING

163

[6]

DewHurst P., (1985), A General Matrix Operator for Linear Boundary Value Problems in
Slipline Field Theory, Int. J. for Numerical Methods in Eng., 21, pp. 169-182.

[7]

Das N. S., Chawla B. S., Biswas C. K., (2005), An Analysis of Strain in Chip Breaking using
Slipline Field Theory with Adhesion Friction at Chip/tool Interface, J. of Mat. Proc. Tech.,
170, pp. 509-515.

[8]

Fang.X.D and Jawahir. I.S., (1996), An Analytical Model for Cyclic Chip Formation in 2-d
Machining with Chip Breaking, Ann. CIRP, 45, No.1, pp. 53-58.

[9]

Fang. X.D., Fie.J. and Jawahir. I.S, (1996), A Hybrid Algorithm for Predicting Chips Form/
Chip Breakability in Machining, Int.J.of. Mach. Tools and Manufacturing, 36, pp. 10931107.

[10] Grzesik W., Kwiatkowska E., (1997), An Energy Approach to Chip Breaking When Machining
with Grooved Tool Inserts, Int. J. Mach. Tools and Manuf., 37(5), pp.569-577.
[11] Hendrickson E., (1953), Chip Breaking Study of Three Dimensional Chip Flow, Trans.
ASME, Ser B 53, pp. 5-9.
[12] Hendrickson E., (1954), Right Chip Breaker Metal Cutting Must, Steel 17, 134.
[13] Hill R., (1954), On the Limits Set by Plastic Yielding to the Intensity of Singularities of
Stress., J. Mech, Phys. Solids,, pp. 278-285.
[14] Jawahir I. S., (1986), An Experimental and Theoretical Study of the Effects of Tool Restricted
Contact on Chip Breaking, Ph.D. Thesis, University of New South Wales.
[15] Kim, H.G., Sim, J.H., Kweon, H.J. (2009), Performance Evaluation of Chip Breaker Utilizing
Neural Network. J. Matl. Process. Technol., 209(2), pp. 647-656.
[16] Kudo H., (1965), Some New Slipline Solutions for Two-dimensional Steady State Machining,
Int. J. of Mech. Sc. 7, pp. 43-55.
[17] Kuester L. J., Mize H. J., (1973), Optimization Techniques with FORTRAN, McGraw-Hill.
[18] Lee E. H., Shaffer B. W., (1951), The Theory of Plasticity Applied to a Problem of Machining,
J. App. Mech. Tran. ASME, pp. 18405-413.
[19] Lee, Y.M., Yang, S.H., Chang, S.L. (2006), Assessment of Chip-breaking Characteristics
using New Chip-breaking Index., J. Matl. Process. Technol, 173(2), pp. 166-171.
[20] Maekawa K., Kitagawa T., Childs T. H. C., (1997), Friction Characteristics at Toolchip
Interface in Steel Machining, 23rd Leeds Lyon Symposium on Tribology, pp. 559-567.
[21] Maithy K. P., Das N. S., (1998), A Slipline Solution to Metal Machining using a Cutting
Tool with a Steptype Chipbreaker, J. of Mat. Proc. Tech. 79, pp. 217-223.
[22] Maithy K. P., Das N. S., (2001), A Class of Slip Line Field Solutions for Metal Machining
with Slipping and Sticking Contact at the Chip Tool Interface, Int. J. of Mech. Sci. 43, pp.
2435-2452.
[23] Nakayama K., (1962), A Study on Chip-breaker, JSME, 5(17), pp. 142-150.
[24] Nakayama K., (1963), Pure Bending Test of Chip an Approach to the Prediction Cuttin
Force, Bul. of the Faculty of Engg., Yokohama Nat. University, pp. 83-88.
[25] Shinozuka J., Obikawa T., Shirakashi T., (1996), Chip Breaking Analysis from the Viewpoint
of the Optimum Cutting Tool Geometry Design, J. of Mat. Proc. Tech. 62, pp. 345-351.
[26] Subramanian T. L., Bhattacharya A., (1965), Mechanics of Chip Breaker, Int. J. of Prod.
Res. 4 (1), pp. 227-240.

164

INTERNATIONAL J OURNAL

OF

A DVANCES

IN

MACHINING

AND

F ORMING O PERATIONS

[27] Takayama H., Sekiguchi H., Takada H., (1970), One Solution for Chip Hazard in Turningstudy
on Automatic Programming for Numerically Controlled Machines (First Report), JSPE, 36
(2) pp. 150-156.
[28] Trim A. R., and Boothroyd G., (1968), Action of the Obstruction Type Chip Former, Int. J.
of Prod. Res. 6 (3), pp. 227-240.
[29] Wang.X, Jawahir.I.S. (2007), Slip-line Models for Machining with Rounded Cutting Edge
Restricted Contact Grooved Tools, I.J. Machining and Machinability of Metals., (2)3-4, pp.
347-360.
[30] Worthington B., Redford A., (1973), Chip Curl and the Action of the Groove Type Chip
Former, Int. J. Mach. Tool Des. And Res., 13, pp. 257-270.
[31] Worthington B., (1976), The Operation and Performance of Groove Type Chip Forming
Device, Int. J. Prod. Res., 14(5), pp. 529-558.
[32] Worthington B., Rahman M. H., (1979), Predicting Breaking with Groove Type Breakers,
Int. J. Mach. Tool Des. and Res., 19, pp. 121-132.
[33] Yang J. A., Athavale S. M., Strenkowski J. S., (1996), A Finite Element Chip-breaking Model
for Groove Tools, Mathematical Modeling and Science Computing in Sc. and Technology
Vol. 6.
[34] Y.L. Yao and X.D. Fang., (1993), Assessment of Chip Forming Patterns with Tool Wear
Progression in Machining Via Neural Networks, Int. J. of Mach Tools and Manufacturing,
31, pp. 89-101.
N. S. Das
Professor, Deapartment of Mechanical Engineering,
C.V. Raman College of Engineering Janla Bhubaneswar,
Orissa, India
E-mail: ns_das2000@yahoo.co.in
Fax.: 0674-2460743
C. K. Biswas
Assistant Professor,
Deapartment of Mechanical Engineering
National Institute of Technology,
Rourkela 769008
Orissa, India
E-mail: ckbiswasr@yahoo.com
Fax.: 0661-462999
B. S. Chawla
Professor and Principal
Institute of Technology
Korba, Chhatisgarh
Pin - 495684
E-mail: bschawla2002@yahoo.com
Fax.: 0775-2414968