Investigations of surface roughness and flank wear behaviour in machining of Inconel 718

Abstract

This paper describes the development of response models such as surface roughness and flank wear for machining Inconel 718. Several experiments are conducted by varying the cutting speed, feed, and depth of cut as machining parameters based on the design of experiments. The surface roughness and flank wear are measured as responses against these parameters. Response optimisation has been presented showing the global solutions for the factors cutting speed, feed and depth of cut and their predicted responses along with the composite desirability of the machining process. Contour plots and surface plots for the responses are also presented. Also this paper is an attempt to Taguchi optimisation technique to study the machinability performances of Inconel 718. Taguchi approach is an efficient and effective experimental method in which a response variable can be optimised, given various control and noise factors, using fewer experiments than a factorial design. An orthogonal array of L₂₇ was used. Signal-to-noise ratio and ANOVA analyses were carried out to identify the significant factors.

Keywords:

• High speed machining
• Inconel 718
• Design of experiments
• response optimisation
• MINITAB

Additional information

Notes on contributors

R Thirumalai

R Thirumalai received his BE degree in Mechanical Engineering and ME degree in Manufacturing Technology from National Institute of Technology, Trichy, India. He is currently pursuing his PhD in Mechanical Engineering and working as an Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering, SNS College of Technology, Coimbatore, India. His areas of interest include machining, multi-criteria decision making, design of experiments, and several optimisation techniques.

J S Senthilkumaar

Dr JS Senthilkumaar received his BE in Mechanical Engineering from University of Madras, India, in 1992, ME in Manufacturing Engineering from MIT, Anna University, Chennai, India, in 1999, and PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Anna University, Chennai, India in 2009. He is actively participating in research and guiding 10 PhD research scholars. He has published 10 papers in international journals, 5 papers in national journals, and more than 15 papers in national and international conferences. He has organised international, national conferences, workshops, faculty development programs, technical exhibitions, seminars, placements and trainings. He is also a member of various professional bodies, including SAE, ISTE and ASME.

P Selvarani

P. Selvarani obtained her post-graduate degree in Mechanical Engineering and currently is pursuing her PhD in Mechanical Engineering at Anna University, India. Currently she is working at Government Poly Technique, Dharmapuri, India. Her aresa of interest include optimisation, modelling and simulation. She has presented several papers at national and international conferences.

R M Arunachalam

Dr RM Arunachalam obtained his Bachelor’s degree from Annamallai University, India, and post-graduate degree from NUS in 1999. He is the recipient of study grant from Lee Foundation, Singapore, for pursuing his PhD degree at NUS. He is a life member of Indian Society for Technical Education. He secured travel grants from various government bodies in India for attending international conferences in Malaysia and United States of America. He was awarded the All India Council for Technical Education Career Award for Young Teachers. He is a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Modern Manufacturing Technology published by Serials Publications, New Delhi, India.

K M Senthilkumaar

KM SenthilKumar received his ME degree in Design and he is currently pursuing his PhD in Mechanical Engineering. He is an Assistant Professor (Senior Grade) in the Mechatronics Engineering Department, Kumaraguru College of Technology, Coimbatore, India. His areas of interest include scheduling, operations research, machining, and several optimisations techniques. He has presented several papers in reputed international journal and international conferences.