An analysis of the orthogonal metal cutting process is made which
enables the shear angle to be calculated from certain fundamental properties
of the work material and the specified cutting conditions. Shear angles
are calculated for a range of cutting conditions and good agreement is
shown between theory and experiment. In particular, such trends as the
decrease in shear angle with decrease in cutting speed and the tendency
for the chip to become discontinuous at slow cutting speeds which are found
experimentally and cannot be explained in terms of previous shear angle
analyses, are shown to be consistent with the present analysis
