PARAMETER OPTIMIZATION IN VERTICAL MACHINING CENTER CNC FOR EN45 (STEEL ALLOY) USING RESPONSE SURFACE METHODOLOGY

Now days optimal machining parameters are of great concern in manufacturing environments, where economy of machining operations plays a key role in competitiveness in the market. This paper aims at developing a statistical model to optimize the surface parameters such as material removal rate (MRR) and surface roughness (SR).Response Surface Methodology (RSM) experimental design was used for conducting experiment. The experimental study was carried out in a CNC vertical machining center. The work piece material was EN45 (steel alloy).EN45 is widely used in the motor vehicle industry for leaf springs, truncated conical springs, helical springs and many general applications. The tool used was an end mill cutter made of solid carbide of dimensions (10mm×28mm×75L-4F).The experiment were carried out using Three input parameters viz. Feed rate(f) ,Spindle speed(N) and Depth of cut(dc). The effect of machining parameters on MRR and surface roughness is evaluated and the optimum cutting conditions for minimizing the surface roughness and maximizing the MRR is determined. The result of the present experiment shows that the feed rate (f) and depth of cut (dc) are the highly dominating factors and most significant factors that control the surface roughness and material removal rate as compared to the other parameters.