OPTIMIZATION OF SOME MACHINING PARAMETERS USING TAGUCHI OPTIIMIZATION TECHNIQUE

Abstract

In machining operation, the quality of the surface finish is very important. Thus, the choice of optimum cutting parameters is necessary. This study investigated the effects of some machining parameters in turning of mild steel with high speed steel cutting tool. The objective of the study was to determine the optimum parameter levels that will give lowest surface roughness using Taguchi robust optimization technique. Three machining parameters were investigated i.e. cutting speed, feed rate and depth of cut at three levels each. The Taguchi orthogonal array, signal to noise (S/N) ratio and the analysis of variance (ANOVA) were employed to investigate the effect of these machining parameters. From the ANOVA result, it was established that the cutting speed has the greatest influence on surface roughness with 66.6% significance, followed by feed rate with 22.32% and depth of cut with 4.81%. From the S/N ratio, it was established that the optimum combination of cutting parameters to produce high surface finish were 80m/min cutting speed, 0.1mm/rev feed rate and 2.0mm depth of cut of the orthogonal array.