Simultaneous improvement of surface quality and productivity using grey relational analysis based Taguchi design for turning couple (AISI D3 steel/ mixed ceramic tool (Al2O3 + TiC))

Abstract

Current optimization strategies are based on the increase the productivity and the quality with lower cost in short time. Grey relational analysis “GRA” based on Taguchi design was proposed in this paper for simultaneous improvement of surface quality and productivity. The turning trials based on mixed Taguchi L18 factorial plan were conducted under dry cutting conditions for the machining couple: AISI D3 steel/mixed ceramic inserts (CC650). The machining parameters taken into account during this study are as follow: major cutting edge angle (χr), cutting insert nose radius (r), cutting speed (Vc), feed rate (f), and depth of cut (ap). Significant effects of machining parameters and their interactions were evaluated by the analysis of variance. Through this analysis, it have been found clearly that feed rate and cutting insert nose radius had a big significant effects on surface quality while depth of cut, feed rate followed by cutting speed had a major effect on productivity. The mathematical relationship between the machining parameters and the performance characteristics was formulated by using a linear regression model with interactions. Optimal levels of parametric combination for achieving the higher surface quality with maximum productivity were selected by grey relational analysis which is based on the high value of grey relational grade. Confirmation experiments were carried out to prove the powerful improvement of experimental results and to validate the effectiveness of the multi-optimization technique applied in this paper.

Keywords

• Simultaneous improvement
• GRA
• Taguchi design
• S/N ratio
• ANOVA
• AISI D3 Steel
• Ceramic