Determination of Optimum Cutting Parameters for Multiperformance Characteristics in CNC End Milling of Al-Si7Mg Aluminum Alloy

This paper presents an approach to determine the optimum cutting parameters leading to have best multiperformance in terms of lower surface roughness (quality) and higher material removal rates (quantity) simultaneously in CNC end milling of Al-Si7Mg (LM25). Conventional Taguchi method is applicable for optimizing single performance characteristics only. The grey relational analysis (GRA) coupled with Taguchi method called as grey-Taguchi method used here is useful and a very versatile statistical tool to manipulate the experimental data to have best multiperformance under various conditional requirements. Four process parameters, i.e. coolant environment, cutting speed, feed rate and depth of cut, each at three levels except the coolant at two levels, have been considered. The L18 orthogonal array best suited for such mixed levels of milling parameters is used for the experimental study. The results of confirmation tests demonstrate that grey-Taguchi method can effectively be used to get the optimum combination of milling parameters.