Behavior of cutting strain distribution in workpiece near edge

In this paper distribution of orthogonal cutting strain of aluminum workpiece during cutting and the residual distribution after the cutting are observed using Photo-elastic coating method. One workpiece with the slight grooves before and behind the cutting range which is treated as a semiinfinite plate and the other with many types of edge within a cutting depth are coated by epoxy rubber film. The results obtained through this investigation are as follows. 1. The shape of the edge has not an effect on the cut-in phenomenon. 2. The distrbution of the cutting strain near the finish edge is affected with the shape of the edge. 3. In case of workpiece with the right angle edges, the cutting strain has three different ranges. These are initial increasing zone, constant zone and final increasing zone. 4. The residual strain of the right angle plane of finish edge is minimized by means of the selection of the suitable shape within a cutting depth.