Low thermal conductivity, high strength, high ductility and high work-hardening tendency of austenitic stainless steels are the main factors that make their machinability difficult. This study investigates the influence of material modelling on the serrated-chip formation during the orthogonal cutting of the AISI316H stainless steel using finite-element simulations. Turning tests were carried out at three different cutting speeds and constant depth of cut and feed rate. Predictions were compared with the orthogonal-cutting tests and found to be in agreement. Keywords: AISI 304 stainless steel, finite-element method, serrated-chip formation, machinability Nizka toplotna prevodnost, visoka trdnost, velika duktilnost in sposobnost mo~nega utrjevanja so glavni vzroki za to, da se austenitno nerjavno jeklo te`ko mehansko obdeluje. V {tudiji so avtorji modelirali tvorbo nazob~anega ostru`ka med pravokotnim rezanjem AISI316H nerjavnega jekla. Za modeliranje so uporabili metodo kon~nih elementov (MKE). Preizkusi stru`enja so bili izvedeni pri treh razli~nih rezalnih hitrostih ter pri konstantni globini reza in pomikanja. Rezultate modeliranja so primerjali s prakti~nimi preizkusi pravokotnega rezanja (stru`enja). Ugotovili so, da se prakti~ni rezultati preizkusov dobro ujemajo z rezultati MKE-modeliranja. Klju~ne besede: AISI 304 nerjavno jeklo, metoda kon~nih elementov, tvorba nazob~anih ostru`kov, sposobnost strojnega obdelovanja