Continuation of DFG project on cutting of natural materials

The deformation behavior and fracture characteristics of natural materials in the cutting process depend to a large extent on the process speed as well as the contact and friction conditions.

In the food industry, cutting processes are used for portioning cheese or chewy caramel sweets, for example, whose process stability and quality of the final cut product depend significantly on temperature and cutting speed. This is due to the coupling of various dissipative mechanisms resulting from inelastic deformation, material separation and friction between the blade and the product being cut.

The aim of this project is to analyze the complex mechanical phenomena in the natural material as well as the phenomena in contact zones during the cutting process. For this purpose, the crack phase field model developed in the first project phase, with which the speed-dependent behavior of the materials can be mapped, is used and extended. The aim of this project phase is to resolve all disspative phenomena, with a focus on modeling the friction and separation behavior.

In cooperation with the Chair of Food Engineering at TU Dresden, experimental investigations are being carried out on a polymer model material system to achieve reduced scattering compared to real natural materials. In addition to available results from cutting and breakage tests, these form the starting point for modeling the material, contact and separation behavior and can be used to validate the developed model.