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3D numerical modeling and experimental validation of machining Nomex® honeycomb materials

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Abstract

Machining of Nomex® honeycomb materials is the biggest challenge in industry because of the complex forms and geometry of the honeycomb structure. The latter is characterized by a low density with orthotropic mechanical behavior. The thin walls of the composite structure make the shaping of this material very difficult. Studying interactions between the cutting tool and material, cutting forces, and chip formation allow to understand the machining process of Nomex® honeycomb. This paper presents 3D numerical modeling of machining Nomex® honeycomb using different orthotropic approaches and failure criteria: (i) monolayer isotropic approach, (ii) monolayer orthotropic approach with Tsai-Wu failure criteria, and (iii) monolayer orthotropic approach with Hashin failure criteria. A comparison between experiments and numerical cutting forces was performed to validate the proposed model. The interaction between the tool and the honeycomb walls, which make it possible to observe the different stages of the chip formation process, was carefully modeled.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to express their thanks and appreciation to the members of the following organizations for their financial support: Evatec-tools group and National French Research Agency (ANR). LARIOPAC Labcom project under Grant No. ANR-13-LAB2-0002.

Funding

No funding was obtained for this work except the salary of the PhD student given by the French Ministry of high education and research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Université de Lorraine, CNRS, LEM3, IMT, GIP InSIC, F-88100, Saint Dié des Vosges, France

    Mohamed Jaafar, Mohammed Nouari & Hamid Makich

  2. Université de Lorraine, CNRS, Arts et Métiers ParisTech, LEM3, F-57070, Metz, France

    Abdelhadi Moufki

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  1. Mohamed Jaafar
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  2. Mohammed Nouari
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Contributions

M. Jaafar obtained his PhD from LEM3 Laboratory at Lorraine University and performed in this work the literature study of this area of research and performed the model for numerical simulations. He also participated to writing the paper.

Nouari is a full professor and the first supervisor of the work. He provided fundamental ideas and all needed support conditions. M. Nouari organized the proof reading and critical revisions.

H. Makich is currently an associate professor and the second supervisor of this thesis project. He was in charge the experimental validation of the model. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

M. Moufki is a full professor; his contribution to the work concerns the preparation of simulations. He also participates to the organization of the proof reading and critical revisions

All authors participated to read and approve the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Mohammed Nouari.

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Jaafar, M., Nouari, M., Makich, H. et al. 3D numerical modeling and experimental validation of machining Nomex® honeycomb materials. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 115, 2853–2872 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-021-07336-4

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