Optimization of Cutting Parameters Affecting the Surface Roughness of Al 6061 Dry Milling Machining Using Taguchi Method

Guaranteeing a good quality surface roughness product is one the most important item that must be considered in metal machining process. Surface quality control is a complicated process and requires a reliable technique during the machining operation. In the real current situation, most of the machining is done in trial and error in order to find an appropriate cutting condition. This situation causes an increase in terms of time, energy consumption, and manufacturing cost. Many previous researches studied the factors that influence the surface roughness, but the different machine conditions required different levels of factors to control. In this study, an experimental study was performed to optimize the cutting parameters and determine the factors that are significant to the surface roughness quality. Machining experiment was carried out on a vertical milling machine using square non-coated two flutes HSS Co end mill with selected cutting parameters on Aluminum 6061. The Taguchi design method signal to noise (S/N) ratio and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to examine the significant factors influencing the quality of surface roughness. The analysis result revealed that the cutting speed was the most significant influence on the surface roughness, followed by the feed rate and depth of cut.