Title: Application of Taguchi technique for the optimisation of micro-end milling process parameters

Authors: P.R. Periyanan; U. Natarajan; S.H. Yang

Addresses: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Shanmuganathan Engineering College, Pudukkottai, Tamilnadu State, India ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, A.C. College of Engineering and Technology, Karaikudi, Tamilnadu State, India ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, South Korea

Abstract: In recent days, micro-machining plays increasingly important roles since there is a growing demand for a miniaturisation of industrial products. This paper focuses on the Taguchi optimisation methodology, which is applied to optimise cutting parameters in micro-end milling operation when machining aluminium block with carbide end mill cutter. In this work, an orthogonal array, signal to noise ratio and Pareto analysis of variance are employed to analyse the effect of the micro end milling parameters such as spindle speed, feed rate and depth of cut. The Taguchi technique for the design of experiment and the interaction of micro end milling parameters are investigated. From the experimental result and analysis shows that high cutting speed, low feed rate and low depth of cut such combination of optimised parameters gives low value of surface roughness. Also, from the analysis it shows that Taguchi technique is suitable to solve the above problem.

Keywords: Taguchi methods; design of experiments; DOE; optimisation; micromilling; end milling; surface roughness; Pareto ANOVA; surface quality; micromachining; process parameters; aluminium machining; carbide cutters; spindle speed; feed rate; depth of cut; cutting speed.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPQM.2013.056735

International Journal of Productivity and Quality Management, 2013 Vol.12 No.4, pp.410 - 425

Published online: 28 Apr 2014 *

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