A numerical study on influence of strain gradientson lattice rotation in micro-machining of a single crystal

Abstract

In latest years small scale machining has been widely used in advanced engineeringapplications such as medical and optical devices, micro- and nano-electro-mechani cal systems. In micromachining of metals, a depth of cut becomes usually smallerthan an average crystal size of a polycrystalline structure; thus, the cutting processzone can be localized fully indoors of a single grain. Due to the crystallographic ani sotropy, development of small scale machining models accounting for crystal plastic ity are essential for a precise calculation of material removal under such circum stances. For this purpose, a 3D finite-element model of micro-cutting of a single grainwas developed. A crystal-plasticity theory accounting for gradients of strain, imple mented in ABAQUS/Explicit via a user-defined material subroutine VUMAT, was usedin the computations. The deformation-induced lattice rotations in micro-cutting of asingle crystal were analyzed extensively.