Machined surface quality in terms of residual stress and surface roughness has an important influence on the performance of devices and components. In the present work, we elucidate the formation mechanisms of residual stress and surface roughness of single crystalline cerium under ultraprecision diamond cutting by means of molecular dynamics simulations. Influences of machining parameters, such as the rake angle of a cutting tool, depth of cut, and crystal orientation of the workpiece on the machined surface quality were also investigated. Simulation results revealed that dislocation activity and lattice distortion are the two parallel factors that govern the formation of both residual stress and surface roughness. It was found that both distributions of residual stress and surface roughness of machined surface are significantly affected by machining parameters. The optimum machining parameters for achieving high machined surface quality of cerium by diamond cutting are revealed.
Keywords: cerium; diamond cutting; molecular dynamics; residual stress; roughness.