Extraction of Uncut Chip Geometry in Gear Hobbing

The intermittent cutting nature of the gear hobbing process along with its complex cutter workpiece engagement make extraction of the uncut chip geometry complicated, and thus cutting force prediction is also a cumbersome task to accomplish. That being said, to optimize the productivity of the process, in addition to enhancing the finished part quality, it is essential to have an accurate force model that takes into account the true uncut chip geometry. This paper aims to provide a kinematic model for the gear hobbing operation to accurately predict the uncut chip geometry through proper modelling of the cutter-workpiece engagement. Once the instantaneous uncut chip thickness is extracted, the results can be used to predict the overall cutting force. Correctness of the kinematic model simulation is verified in the virtual gear measurement module.