2D macro-mechanical FE simulations for machining unidirectional FRP composite: the influence of damage models

Abstract To investigate the influence of material damage models on machining simulation of unidirectional fiber-reinforced polymer composites (FRP), a two-dimensional (2D) macro-mechanical finite element (FE) model was developed. Four failure criteria in combination with two degradation models were implemented in the machining simulation. The simulation results were compared with experimental data in literature. It is shown that both failure criterion and degradation model have significant influence on the chip shapes, cutting forces and sub-surface damages. The cutting forces and chip shapes predicted by Maximum stress criterion with progressive damage model has a relatively better agreement with experimental observations. The simulated sub-surface damage also agrees with experiments for low fiber orientation angles.