Analysis and optimization of surface roughness in turning of AA6061-T6 under various environments and parameters

Abstract

The surface quality of a machined component is one of the most important concerns in machining processes and the first and foremost objective is to have a high-quality surface finish in machined components. The surface roughness is influenced by turning parameters including cutting speed, feed rate, and depth of cut and turning environments consisting of DRY, minimum quantity lubrication (MQL), and WET. This research study presents experimental study and optimization of surface roughness parameters versus turning parameters and environments in turning AA 6061-T6. Machining tests were planed using Central Composite Design (CCD) of experiment and was performed under three sets of environmental modes. Response Surface Method (RSM) and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) were utilized to achieve effective regression predictive models for the arithmetic average surface roughness and the maximum height of the profile in order to obtain their optimum values. The optimization results showed that the feed rate was the most effective parameter on the surface roughness in turning of AA 6061-T6 for each turning environment. It was concluded that the smallest surface roughness parameters were achieved using DRY mode.