DETERMINATION OF OPTIMAL PROCESS PARAMETERS IN TURNING OF MEDIUM CARBON STEEL EN8

The present work is to investigate the effect of cutting parameters, Speed, feed and depth of cut on the responses (Material Removal Rate and Surface Roughness) while turning of a medium carbon steel EN8. The machining has been done using a Tungsten carbide tool under dry environment. For conducting the experiments, Taguchi's standard L27 (3 factors X 3 levels) Orthogonal array has been selected and the optimization of responses was done using Single objective Taguchi method. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was employed to find the relative importance of cutting parameters on the responses. From Taguchi results, the optimal combination is obtained at s3-f3-d3, 760 rpm, 0.3 mm/rev and 1.5 mm for material removal rate and at s3-f1-d3, 760 rpm, 0.1 mm/rev and 1.5 mm for surface roughness respectively. From ANOVA results, feed has high influence in affecting both material removal rate and surface roughness. Finally, Mathematical models for the responses were prepared using the MINITAB-16 software. The models prepared were following a normal distribution and best fit for the prediction of the responses.