Cutting force calculation for gear slicing with energy method

A calculation method for cutting force in gear slicing is proposed based on energy method. In view of the particularity of gear slicing, the cutting edge on a cutter tooth is divided into three sections: cut-in edge, top edge, and cut-out edge. Then, the concept of micro-section edge is proposed for the three curved edges. The cutting force on micro-section edge is calculated according to oblique cutting theory. The vector sum of cutting forces on micro-section edges make up the cutting force on one section of the cutting edge. Then, the cutting force on single cutter tooth is obtained by the vector sum of cutting forces on the three sections of the cutting edge. For the calculation of whole cutting force acting upon the cutter, the number of cutter teeth participating in cutting is determined based on coincidence degree. As a result, the whole cutting force is obtained by the vector sum of cutting forces on the cutter teeth participating in cutting. The feasibility of this cutting force calculation method is proved by a calculation example and the effectiveness of this method is verified by finite element simulation.