This thesis presents the simulation of chip formation in orthogonal metal cutting to evaluate the predictive capabilities of finite element code DYNA 3D. The Johnson and Cook constitutive model for materials, OFHC Copper, Aluminum 2024 T351, and Aluminum 6061 T6 alloy were incorporated into the simulation to account for the effects of strain hardening, strain rate hardening, and thermal softening effects during machining. Calculated values for the Johnson and Cook constitutive constants for Aluminum 6061 T6 alloy were determined from the literature. The model was compared to experimentally measured shear angles, chip thickness, chip velocity, and forces from the literature to evaluate the accuracy of the finite element code for a range machining strain rates. In an attempt to determine the predictive capabilities of DYNA 3D a strain rate regime of 10+3 s-1 to 10+4 s-1 was defined as the optimal strain rate regime for the orthogonal metal cutting application.