Abstract
An investigation into the effect of oxygen on the orthogonal cutting of copper, aluminium, and iron, using 40° rake-angled tools, has demonstrated that while reducing the partial pressure of oxygen increases the cutting forces with iron they are reduced significantly when cutting aluminium and copper. Experiments using internally marked copper–silver eutectic specinzens have shown that in the presence of oxygen there is a change in the geometry and type of secondary stress relief at the tool rake face from shear parallel to this face to intermittent twinning perpendicular to it throughout the thickness of the chip. That a similar process occurs in pure copper, only when cutting in oxygen, has been demonstrated by a comparison of the dislocation microstructure seen in three orthogonal sections of chips cut under differing environmental conditions.
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