Physics Colloquium
Friday, September 5th, 2003 4 P.M.
E300 Math/Science Center
Stephan Koehler
Department of Physics, Emory University
Research of the Cutting Edge
Cutting of material is an everyday process we are all familiar
with when preparing foods or pruning trees. There are two types
of cutting, which are sawing and slicing. Sawing involves a knife
edge with teeth, and material is being removed in the form of chips.
Slicing on the other hand does not remove material, and the knife
edge is aligned with the direction of the cutting motion. In this
talk I will present results for slicing poly-dimethyl-siloxane (PDMS),
which is a soft and elastic material. Experimentally there is a
relationship between the cutting rate, downwards force on the knife
edge, and shearing of the material, as well as the depth of the
knife edge in the material. The threshold of the downwards force
required for any cutting depends on whether or not there is shearing
of the material. This threshold also varies with the depth of the
cut as well as the geometry of the knife.
Refreshments 3:30 P.M. Room E200 Math/Science Center
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