Basins of attraction of the bistable region of time-delayed cutting dynamics

This paper for the first time investigates the effects of bistability in a non-smooth time-delayed dynamical system, which is often manifested in science and engineering. Previous studies on cutting dynamics have demonstrated persistent co-existence of chatter and chatter-free responses in a bistable region located in the linearly stable zone. As there is no widely accepted definition of basins of attraction for time-delayed systems, bistable regions are coined as unsafe zones (UZs). Hence, we have attempted to define the basins of attraction and stability basins for a typical delayed system to get insight into the bistability in systems with time delays. As special attention was paid to the influences of delayed initial conditions, starting points and states at time zero on the longterm dynamics of time-delayed systems. By using this concept, it has been confirmed that the chatter is prone to occur when the waviness frequency in the workpiece surface coincides with the effective natural frequency of the cutting process. Further investigations unveil a thin “boundary layer” inside the UZ in the immediate vicinity of the stability boundary, in which we observe an
extremely fast growth of the chatter basin stability. The results reveal that the system is more stable when the initial cutting depth is smaller. The physics of the tool deflection at the instant of the tool-workpiece engagement is used to evaluate the cutting safety, and the safe level could be zero when the geometry of tool engagement is unfavourable. Finally, the basins of attraction are used to quench the chatter by a single strike, where the resultant “islands” offer an opportunity to suppress the chatter even when the cutting is very close to the stability boundary.