Hopf bifurcation for delay differential equation with application to machine tool chatter

In the machining process, unstable self-excited vibrations known as regenerative chatter can occur, causing excessive tool wear or failure, and a poor surface finish on the machined workpiece, hence the relevant measures must be taken to predict and avoid this phenomenon of instability. In this paper, we propose a weakly nonlinear model with square and cubic terms in both structural stiffness and regenerative terms, to represent self-excited vibrations in machining. It is proved that Hopf bifurcation exists when bifurcation parameter equals a critical value, a formula for determining the direction of the Hopf bifurcation and the stability of bifurcating periodic solutions are given by using the normal form method and center manifold theorem. Numerical simulations show excellent agreement with the theoretical results.