Determining Al6063 constitutive model for cutting simulation by inverse identification method

Numerical simulation is an important method to investigate the cutting process due to its unmatched capability in discovering the cutting parameters including cutting force, distribution of stress and temperature, chip and surface formation mechanism. So its application has covered a wide range of materials from metallic, non-metallic to composite materials, and among the simulation of composite materials such as silicon carbide reinforced aluminum matrix composites (SiC_p/Al) receives a great amount of attention. However, at present, the simulation is always faced with the deficiency of material constitutive model, which can more accurately describe the variation of the flow stress, e.g., the microstructure-based simulation of composites. In order to build a solid foundation for the microstructure-based simulation of SiC_p/Al6063, this paper attempts to identify the constants of Johnson-Cook constitutive model for the matrix Al6063 by an inverse identification method based on the quasi-static compression, orthogonal cutting tests, and cutting simulation. And the established model is verified by the cutting experiments in terms of the cutting force and chip thickness. The applicability and advantages of inverse identification method is presented by the discussion on the problem of negative strain rate in using conventional approach.