The paper presents results of the investigations on numerical computations and experimental verification concerning the influence of selected parameters of the cutting process on the stress state in bundles of cold-rolled steel sheets being cut using a guillotine. The physical model and, corresponding to it, the mathematical model of the analysed steel sheet being cut were elaborated. In this work, the relationship between the cutting depth and the values of reduced Huber⁻Mises stresses as well as the mechanism of sheet separation were presented. The numerical simulations were conducted by means of the finite element method and the computer system LS-DYNA. The results of numerical computations are juxtaposed as graphs, tables, and contour maps of sheet deformation as well as reduced Huber⁻Mises strains and stresses for selected time instants. The microscopic tests revealed two distinct zones in the fracture areas. The ductile and brittle zones are separated at the depth of ca. 1/3 thickness of the cut steel sheet.
Keywords: Huber–Mises stress; cutting process; finite element method; fracture mechanism; microscopic analysis; plastic zone; steel sheet.