Nanometric cutting of copper: A molecular dynamics study

Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were carried out to study the nanometric cutting of copper. In our approach, the many-body EAM potential was used for the atoms interaction in the copper workpiece. The effect of the tool geometry on the cutting process was investigated. It is observed that with negative rake angle, the chip becomes smaller due to the larger plastic deformation generated in the workpiece. It is shown that as the rake angle changes from −45° to 45°, the machined surface becomes smoother. Besides, both the cutting forces and the ratio of normal force to tangential force decrease considerably with the rake angle changing from negative to positive. In addition, MD simulations with the two-body Morse potential instead of the EAM potential were also carried out to study the effect of different potentials on the simulation results. It is found that there is no big difference in the simulated chip formation and the machined surface under the two different potentials. However, the Morse potential results in about 5–70% higher cutting forces than the EAM potential. It is recommended that the EAM potential should be used for the MD simulations of nanometric machining processes.