Simulations of high-speed machining using a multi-material finite element formulation

Machining is a manufacturing process that is difficult to simulate because the generation of new free surfaces is difficult to model in a computational setting. Other processes which deform material but don't alter its topology, such as stamping and forging, are routinely modeled with commercial software on a production basis in industry. While many research challenges remain in modeling them, they are mature areas relative to machining. Previous efforts have primarily focused on extending Lagrangian finite element methods, which have well-developed algorithms for contact, to permit new free surfaces. The approach taken here is to extend an Eulerian finite element formulation, which has a well-developed algorithm for generating new free surfaces, to model contact.