The minimum depth of cut (MDC) is a major limiting factor on
achievable accuracy in nanomachining, because the generated surface
roughness is primarily attributed to the ploughing process when the uncut chip
thickness is less than the MDC. This paper presents the material removal in a
nanomachining process, where a sharp diamond tool with an edge radius of few
atoms acts on a crystalline copper workpiece. The molecular dynamics (MD)
simulation results show the phenomena of rubbing, ploughing and cutting. The
formation of chip occurred from the depth of cut thickness of 1~1.5 nm. Also,
the effects of the interatomic potentials on the MDC have been presented