Cutting Forces and Chip Morphology during Wood Plastic Composites Orthogonal Cutting

The effect of chip thickness, rake angle, and edge radius on cutting forces and chip morphology in wood plastic composites (WPCs) orthogonal cutting was investigated. Three types of WPCs, Wood flour/polyethylene composite (WFPEC), wood flour/polypropylene composite (WFPPC), and wood flour/polyvinyl chloride composite (WFPVCC), that were tested exhibited different behavior with respect to the machinability aspects. The cutting forces of WFPVCC were the highest, followed by WFPPC and WFPEC. The most significant factor on the parallel cutting force of these three types of WPCs was the chip thickness, which explained more than 90%, contribution of total variation, while rake angle, edge radius, and the interactions between these factors had small contributions. The most significant factor on the normal cutting force of WPCs was also the chip thickness, which accounted for more than 60% of the total variation. The chips produced included long continuous chips, short continuous chips, flake chips, and granule chips when cutting these three types of WPCs.