On the Mechanism of Chip Breaking

During metal cutting while products are being manufactured, the access material is removed in the form of chips. These chips are obtained in various shapes which depend on cutting conditions, type of workpiece material machined, grade of the tool, geometry of cutting, etc. While brittle materials are being machined, the chips are segmental and disintegrating during the chip formation process. Consequently, these chips cause no difficulties. The problem exists when ductile materials are machined and one may observe the following chip forms: I—Long chips—(two dimensional and oblique type); II—Helical chips—(two dimensional and oblique type). These chips were classified by their influence on production operation. Based upon the natural crater developed during the cutting operation a chip breaker groove was introduced. These grooves are pressed into the insert during its manufacturing. It appears that the configuration of the groove has a crucial influence on the range of cutting conditions in which adequate breaking will occur. The presented paper deals with the different machinisms of chip breaking while machining with groove type chip breakers. Tests were carried out to establish the influence of the various parameters, taking part in the cutting operation, on the chip breaking process.