Key Engineering Materials Vols 274-276 (2004) pp 481-486 Online: 2004-10-15

© (2004) Trans Tech Publications, Switzerland

doi:10.4028/www.scientific.net/KEM.274-276.481

Behavior of rubber cutting by a sharp cutter

L.Q Liu1, a , Z.Q. Yao 1,b , X.P Zhang 1,c, G.J. Yuan1,d
1
College of Mechanical and Power Engineering, Shanghai Jiaotong University, China, 200030
a
liulongquan@sjtu.edu.cn , bzqyao@sjtu.edu.cn, czhangxueping@sjtu.edu.cn,
d
yuanguangjie@sjtu.edu.cn

Keywords: Rubber cutting; Fracture energy; Viscoelastic effect ; Test method

Abstract. The resistance of rubber cutting can be divided into two aspects, the friction during cutting and the
strength of the rubber. The strengths of rubber vary not only according to their molecular structure and
detailed formulation, but also according to the deformation property. In order to obtain the mechanism of
rubber cutting and correctly evaluate the influence of the cutting rate and the cutter’s sharpness on the cutting
resistance, a test apparatus is designed and an experimental method based on the fracture energy theory is
investigated through cutting rubber such as Ethylene-Propylene-Diene Monomer (EPDM) using a sharp
cutter. Through the analysis to the force of rubber cutting process, it’s found the rubber cutting can be divided
into several periods; through the analysis to the cutting force with different cutting rate, it’s found that there is
viscoelasitc effect when the rubber is cut with low speed; through the analysis to the cutting force with different
cutter’s bevel angles, it’s found the cutting forces increase greatly with the increase of cutter’s bevel angle.
This work originally investigated the force of rubber cutting process, and the experiment result is very helpful
to understand the mechanism of rubber cutting and to select appropriate cutting rate and cutter’s geometry.
And the study method and the mechanism of rubber cutting can be applied to other viscoelastic materials’
cutting process.

Introduction
Nowadays rubber has been widely used in the industrial field due to its good mechanical properties, physical
properties, and chemical properties. Generally, the rubber components only need formation processes, but in
some special application, such as vehicle’s sealing strips which are often made of EPDM
(Ethylene-Propylene-Diene Monomer)[1], high dimensional accuracy and good surface finish are necessary
when these components are used in assembly process[2], and the components of rubber for these ends should
be produced by means of machining processes instead of molding processes. One of the machining styles
among these processes is cutting by sharp tools, but because of the rubber’s high flexibility (its fracture tensile
rate is more than 300%) and low strength, its good surface quality is very hard to be processed.
The properties of rubber had researched comprehensively, and many hyperelastic models and
viscoelastic models had been constructed, such as Neo-Hookean model[3], Mooney-Rivlin model, Maxwell
model, Kelvin model, four components model[4], and so on. Because of the rubber’s viscoelstic property, its
cutting process is a viscoelstic fracture process, and the process is different with different cutting rate and
temperature, so it is different from the process of metal cutting. However, the researches of the process of
rubber cutting by sharp cutters had been studied very little comparing to the metal shearing and metal
blanking. Some researchers indicated that the main resistances of rubber cutting by a sharp cutting were the
friction between the cutting and the rubber, and the true cutting force which reflects the intrinsic strength of
rubber[5,6], and later some other researchers had studied the factors which influence the resistance of rubber
cutting[7,8], but the cutting process had been investigated very little, especially the difference of different
periods of the whole cutting process. In this study, through experimental method, the rubber cutting process is
studied through observing the workpiece’s deformation process and the cutting ressitance process; the

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482 Advances in Engineering Plasticity and Its Applications

influences of cutting speed and cutter’s geometry on the cutting force are also investigated; some rules of
rubber cutting have been found by analyzing the test results.

Experimental Procedure
Rubber and cutting tools’ preparation.
The cutting object is rubber made sealing strip, which is shown in the Fig.1, and the rubber used in this study
is Ethylene-Propylene-Diene Monomer (EPDM). Its density is 1.256g/cm3, elastic modulus is about
6.8MPa, Shearing modulus is about 4Mpa, Possion ratio is about 0.47, tensile stretch is 15~30 MPa,
elongation percentage is 250%, hardness is Shore A60~80. The rubber-made workpieces for cutting
experiments are 5mm thick, and the length of the workpiece can be decided freely.
Fig.1 The rubber made sealing strip before machined

The material of the tools is 12CrMnV, which belongs to alloy steel, and its density is 7.9g/cm3, elastic
modulus is 2.06×105MPa, Poisson ratio is about 0.3, shearing modulus is about 0.8×105MPa, density is
about HRC60, and it is much harder than the rubber. The length, height and thickness of the cutters are the
same, are 80mm, 50mm and 5mm, respectively, and the bevel angles of the cutting tools are 12o, 15o and 18o,
respectively, which is shown in the Fig.2.

Fig.2 Three cutting tools with different bevel angles

Cutting Force Test System
The cutting forces are tested on the material tensile and compression performance test instrument (Shimadzu
AG-100kNA) which is shown in the Fig.3, and the test apparatus which is built by us and shown in the Fig.4.
The Material tensile and compression performaance test instrument can be used to perform the rubber cutting
when the cutting speed is low, and the test apparatus can be used to perform the rubber cutting when the
cutting speed is high.
The theoris of both these two test method are schematically shown in the Fig.5. The workpiece is
supported by the lower mold, and pressed by the upper mold, so the location of the workpiece is fixed by the
cooperation of the upper mold and the lower mold. The sharp cutter is mounted at the lower end of the load
cell. As the load cell is dropping down, the cutter cuts through the workpiece, and the cutting force is
measured continuously through measuring the strain at the cutter. The cutting force is collected by the
Shimadzu test system and the DH5937 test system, and then the signal of cutting force is transferred into the
computer, and analyzed by the software installed in the computer.
 Key Engineering Materials Vols. 274-276 483

Fig.3 Shimadzu material test instrument Fig.4 Apparatus used for testing the cutting force
Load Cell Load Cell

Cutter
Cutter

Data Collection Data Collection

Upper Mold Upper Mold

Workpiece Workpiece

Lower Mold Lower Mold

Workstation Computer Saving and Analysis Workstation Computer Saving and Analysis

Fig.5 Schematic diagram of apparatus used to obtain the cutting force

Measurement of the cutting force

The cutting force of rubber was measured through the method proposed above. The rubber-made
workpieces are 5mm thick and 40mm long. The cutting force is continuously measured during the whole
cutting process. To confirm the dependence of cutting rate on the cutting force and to see the whether the
cutting behavior of rubber is a viscoelastic process, the cutting rate was varied from 10um/s,100um/s and
400mm/s; to evaluate the effect of the bevel angle of the cutter to the cutting force, the bevel angles of the
cutter used in the cutting are 12o, 15o, 18o, respectively.

Results analysis and discussion

The deformation of rubber cutting process
Through observation, the rubber cutting process is shown in Fig.6. From the Fig.6, it’s shown that, after the
cutter gets in touch with the rubber made workpiece( shown as a), the rubber made workpiece occurs
severity elastic deformation as the cutter continuously moves downward(shown as b and c), this is because of
the small elastic modulus of the rubber.The cutter keeps on moving down, the cutter cuts into the
rubber(shown as d and e), and the workpiece is separated completely with the time goes up (shown as f).
484 Advances in Engineering Plasticity and Its Applications

Cutting Cutting Cutting

Cutter Cutter direction
direction direction Cutter

Upper Mold Upper Mold Upper Mold

Upper Mold Upper Mold Upper Mold
Workpiece Workpiece Workpiece

Lower Mold Lower Mold Lower Mold Lower Mold Lower Mold Lower Mold
(a) (b) (c)

Cutting Cutting Cutting

direction Cutter direction Cutter direction
Cutter
Upper Mold Upper Mold Upper Mold
Upper Mold Upper Mold Upper Mold
Workpiece Workpiece Workpiece
Waste
Lower Mold Lower Mold Lower Mold Lower Mold Lower Mold Lower Mold
(d) (e) (f)

Fig. 6 The cutting process of rubber sheet

The force of rubber cutting process

The cutting force versus cutter displacement relation is identified as shown in Fig.7. Structural deformation
develops between O and A. The elastic deformation and structural deformation develop between A and B.
The elastic deformation develops between B and C and the force reaches its maximum at the point C. The
micro-cracks and voids initiate after the point C, and the cutting force begins to decrease because of the
micro-cracks and voids. The micro-cracks begin to coalesce and propagate when the cutter reaches the point
D, so the cutting force drops down rapidly during the period DE. The cutting force starts to increase at the
point E because the cutter reaches some cracks’ tip at the point E. FGH probably represents the friction effect
between the cutter and the workpiece. So there are deformation, stress increasing, and fracture processes in
the whole process of rubber cutting, and there is friction when the cutter is cutting into the rubber.

400
B
C
300
Cutting Force [N]

200 E F
D
G
100
A

0
O

-100
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
Cutting Distance [mm]
Fig.7 Schematic diagram of cutter displacement-cutting force

Effect of cutting rate

The relationship between the cutting force and cutting-rate can be seen in the Fig.8~10. From the figures, it’s
shown that the cutting force is about 239.49N when the cutting rate is 10um/s, the cutting force is about
297.08N when the cutting rate is 100um/s, and the cutting force is about 386.04N when the cutting rate is
 Key Engineering Materials Vols. 274-276 485

400mm/s. So the cutting force rises up greatly with the increase of cutting rate. From the Fig.8 and Fig.8 , it
also can be seen there are many indentions along the curve of cutting force with the cutting rate being 10um/s
and 100um/s, there is no indention along the curve of cutting force with the cutting rate being 400mm/s. So the
cutting force has a “slip-stick” featur when the rubber cutting speed is low, it also can be said that there is
viscoelastic effect on the rubber cutting with a low speed, and this is because of the viscoelastic property of
rubber. Thereby, to get good cutting surface quality, the cutting rate can not be too low, for the sake of making
the rubber be cutting off before its deformation takes place.
From the Fig.9, it’s also can be seen the friction force between the cutter’s surfaces and rubber is about
120N when the rubber is cut off completely.
250

200
Cutting Force [N]

150

100

50

0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
Cutting Distance [mm]

Fig.8 The cutting force-cutting distance curve with the cutting rate being 10um/s
300

250
Cutting Force [N]

200

150

100

50

0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
Cutting Distance [mm]

Fig.9 The cutting force-cutting distance curve with the cutting rate being 100um/s
486 Advances in Engineering Plasticity and Its Applications

400

300
Cutting Force [N]

200

100

-100
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
Cutting Distance [mm]

Fig.10 The cutting force-cutting distance curve with the cutting rate being 400mm/s

Effect of the cutter’s bevel angle

The relation between the cutting force and cutters’ bevel angle can be seen in the Fig.11.

300
250 300
250 250
Cutting Force Fs[N]
Cutting Force Fs[N]

200
200 200
Cutting Force [N]

150
150 150

100 100 100

50 50 50

0 0 0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6
Cutter Entry Depth [mm] Cutter Entry Depth [mm] Cutter Entry Depth [mm]
(a) 12o (b) 15o (c) 18o
Fig.11 The cutting force-cutting depth curve with different the cutter’s bevel angles
From the Fig.11, it’s shown that the cutting force is about 148N when the cutter’s bevel angle is 12o, the
cutting force is about 210N when the cutter’s bevel angle is15o, and the cutting force is about 275N when the
cutter’s bevel angle is18o, So the cutting force rises up greatly with the increase of cutter’s bevel angle. The
cutter should be sharper in order to increase the flatness of the cutting surface, because the cutter is sharper,
the cutting force is lower, and then the deformation of the workpiece is smaller, and then the cutting surface is
flatter. But the selection of the cutter’s sharpness must also consider the durability of the cutter, because the
cutter is sharper, the cutter is easier to become blunt, and then the cutting force will increase greatly.
 Key Engineering Materials Vols. 274-276 487

Conclusions
Using the test method, the force of rubber cutting process is investigated, and the cutting forces with different
cutting rate and cutter’s bevel angle are also studied.
Through the analysis to the workpice’s deformation and the resistant force during the cutting process, it’s
shown that the the rubber cutting can be divided to several process, such as structual deformation process,
elastic deformation and structural deformation process, elestic deformation process, micro-cracks and void
initiation process, micro-cracks coalesce and propagate process, and there is friction between the cutter’s
surface and the workpiece when the cutter cutting into the workpiece.
Through the analysis to the cutting force with different cutting rate, it’s found that the cutting force
increases greatly with the increase of cutting rate, and there is obvious viscoelastic effect in the rubber cutting
process with low cutting speed.
Through the analysis to the cutting force with different cutter’s bevel angle, it’s found that the cutting force
rises up greatly with the increase of cutter’s bevel angle.
The method of rubber cutting in this work can be used to the study of other viscoelasitc matieril’s cutting
process.

Aknoledgements:
This work is funded by the Foundation of Shanghai Automotive Science and Technology Development
(2348A).

References
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Advances in Engineering Plasticity and Its Applications
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Behavior of Rubber Cutting by a Sharp Cutter

10.4028/www.scientific.net/KEM.274-276.481