An FEM study on residual stresses induced by high-speed end-milling of hardened steel SKD11

Milling of Hardened steel SKD11 is usually a finishing process, therefore stable cutting process must be guaranteed at first. Residual stresses (RS) were studied in this paper with the help of finite element method (FEM) for its significant influence on the quality of machined part. A two-dimension (2D) fully thermo-mechanical coupled finite element (FE) model was employed to evaluate RS remaining in a machined component. The model was developed based on the effective rake angle and the variable undeformed chip layer. Johnson–Cook plasticity model was introduced to model the workpiece material. Coulomb friction was assumed at the tool–chip interface. Two same cutting tools were employed to model continuous feed milling process. RS profiles were obtained after the cutting and stress relaxation stages. The predicted RS profiles were in reasonable agreement with the experimental results.