Experimental Investigations on Thrust, Torque and Circularity Error in Drilling of Aluminium Alloy (Al6061)

Abstract

Aluminium alloy (Al6061) is one of the most important metal for construction of aircraft structures, yacht construction, automotive parts etc. It is a precipitation hardening aluminum alloy, containing magnesium and silicon as its major alloying elements. It has good mechanical properties and exhibits much lighter, more corrosion resistant and good weld ability. In this project work, experimental performance on drilling characteristics such as thrust force, torque and the hole quality of aluminium alloy with carbide drills are studied. The drilling experiments are planned as per full factorial design (FFD) by using L27 standard orthogonal array. The effect of three process parameters, namely drill diameter, spindle speed and feed rate on thrust force and hole quality such as circularity error of the drilled hole are analyzed by developing response surface methodology (RSM) based on second-order mathematical models. The proposed models are tested through analysis of variance (ANOVA) for their adequacy. The parametric analysis based on quadratic model is carried out to study the interaction effects of the process parameters. The optimum parameter levels for thrust force, torque and circularity error are obtained using Taguchi technique of signal to noise ratio. Minitab statistical software is employed for statistical and parametric analysis.