Finite element modeling of microstructural changes in dry and cryogenic cutting of Ti6Al4V alloy

This paper presents a customized FE model for describing the microstructural changes during dry and cryogenic cutting of Ti6Al4V. It addresses the importance to modify the material behavior taking into account the microstructural changes and the cooling/lubrication effects during the cutting process. With this aim, a user subroutine is implemented in the FE code to describe the surface and subsurface modifications taking place during the cutting process and to implement them in order to properly modify the material flow stress. Thus, the material flow stress is continuously updated during the simulation according to the new microstructure characteristics. The proposed FE model is calibrated and validated by comparison with experimental results.