Machined surface properties have a great influence on the service life of component. The residual stress in machined surface layer is affected by the micro-cutting process. Sequential cuts influence the machined surface layer. In this paper, a mesh-less method called SPH (smooth particle hydrodynamic) is used to investigate the effect of sequential cuts and residual stress on chip formation, cutting force and the residual stress in machined surface for oxygen-free high-conductivity copper (OFHC). In micro-cutting process the cutting edge radius plays a crucial role. The effect of the cutting edge radius on residual stress is also investigated in this paper. The simulation results showed that the chip curled severely and the minimum chip thickness decreased in the second cut because of residual stress in the machined surface after the first cut. Meanwhile, the cutting force in the second cut was smaller than the first cut, while the thrust force was nearly the same during two cuts. In addition, the tensile residual stress beneath the machined surface layer would change to compressive stress after the second cut. Therefore, the residual stress in machined surface can be changed through sequential cuts with proper machining parameters to get high quality machined surface. (C) 2013 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.