Analysis of Machinability on Al6061 using Single Point Cutting Tool

The emerging trend of machining to produce low cost and high quality products in least possible time has given a real challenge in machining aluminium and its alloys. The chemical affinity of aluminium to different coating materials and its low melting point made this a critical one for machining. Many researches are still going on to find out the best compatible procedures for machining aluminum and its alloys. The main problem in machining the aluminum is the formation of built-up edge formation due to the adhesion to the tool materials resulting in an adverse effect on surface quality of the work piece. This can be prevented to an extent by giving suitable process parameters. Hence there is a need for optimization of process parameters for optimized production. Cutting parameters such as speed, feed and depth of cut that are significant in machining process are estimated and analyzed. The main objective is to optimize the process parameters namely- cutting speed, feed and depth of cut on machining AL6061 alloy using single point cutting tool. The Experimentation is carried out after choosing a set of trials that are compatible with the lathe machine used. Surface roughness, Material removal rate and cutting forces are measured using instruments and are incorporated into Design Expert software. An equation is generated for each parameter and inputs to achieve better results are estimated. In the present work, Design of Experiments techniques(full factorial & RSM) are used in order to find the effect of input parameters on cutting force and surface roughness and metal removal rate. Contribution of each factor is determined by ANOVA (Analysis of Variance).