Burrs (exit failure), being one of the important factors influencing the final precision of workpiece, have been widely studied. Today, with the development of manufacturing technology, the depth of cut falls into the range of nanometer or subnanometer, there may be some different disciplines dominating the burrs generation process. Molecular dynamics (MD) method, which is different from continuous mechanics, plays an important role in describing microscopic world. Take the example of single crystal copper, this paper carries out MD analysis micro-mechanism of burrs generation process. The results show that the burrs geometry depends on the type of workpiece (ductile or brittle). The depth of cut is decreased in the case of positive burrs generation process while the depth of cut is increased in case of negative burrs generation process.