Effect of plastic side flow on surface roughness in micro-turning process

Kinematic roughness-based surface finish prediction is known to often under-predict the measured surface roughness in turning process, especially at small (micron level) feed rates. It has also been observed that the surface roughness in micro-turning decreases with feed, reaches a minimum, and then increases with further reduction in feed. This paper presents a model for predicting the surface roughness in micro-turning of Al5083-H116 alloy that takes into account the effects of plastic side flow, tool geometry, and process parameters. The model combines these effects with more accurate estimation of the average flow stress of Al5083-H116 at micron scale of deformation with the help of a previously reported strain gradient-based finite element model. The surface roughness model is evaluated through a series of micro-turning experiments. The results show that the model can predict the surface roughness in micro-turning quite well. It is shown that the commonly observed discrepancy between the theoretical and measured surface roughness in micro-turning is mainly due to surface roughening caused by plastic side flow. Further, it is shown that the increase in roughness at low feed can be attributed to the increased side flow caused by strain gradient-induced strengthening of the material directly ahead of the tool.