Advanced Materials Research Vol.

685 (2013) pp 57-62

Online available since 2013/Apr/24 at www.scientific.net
© (2013) Trans Tech Publications, Switzerland
doi:10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMR.685.57

Optimization of Cutting Parameters for Turning Operation of Titanium

Alloy Ti-6Al-4V Material Workpiece using the Taguchi Method

S.P.Shahebrahimia, A.Dadvandb
Urmia University of Technology, Urmia, Iran
a b
P.shahebrahimi@yahoo.com, A.Dadvand@mee.uut.ac.ir

Keywords: Taguchi method, Ti-6Al-4V, Turning, Surface roughness, Cutting parameters.

Abstract. One of the most important issues in turning operations is to choose suitable parameters in
order to achieve a desired surface finish. The surface finish in machining operation depends on many
parameters such as workpiece material, tool material, tool coating, machining parameters, etc. The
purpose of this research is to focus on the analysis of optimum cutting parameters to get the lowest
surface roughness in turning Titanium alloy Ti-6Al-4V with the insert with the standard code DNMG
110404 under dry cutting condition, by the Taguchi method. The turning parameters are evaluated as
cutting speed of 14, 20 and 28 m/min, feed rate of 0.12, 0.14 and 0.16 mm/rev, depth of cut of 0.3, 0.6
and 1 mm, each at three levels. The Experiment was designed using the Taguchi method and 9
experiments were conducted by this process. The results are analyzed using analysis of variance
method (ANOVA). The results of analysis show that the depth of cut has a significant role to play in
producing lower surface roughness that is about 63.33% followed by feed rate about 30.25%, and
cutting speed has less contribution on the surface roughness. Also it was realized that with the use of
the confirmation test, the surface roughness improved by 227% from its initial state.

Introduction
One of the most important issues in turning operations is to choose suitable parameters in order to
achieve a desired surface finish .The surface finish in machining operation depends on many
parameters such as work piece material , tool material , tool coating , machining parameters, etc. To
achieve the desired surface finish, optimized parameters must be chosen for this purpose. Titanium
alloys have a lower machining capability and achieving the desired surface finish, needs meticulous
attention. In this paper, an experimental design was carried out in order to select the appropriate
machining parameters and the results of the experiment were analyzed. Later, the optimum
parameters which aim to achieve low surface roughness were selected. Yang & Tarng (1998) have
done optimal design of machining parameters on S45C steel alloy using the Taguchi method later
which lead them to find the optimized parameters using the ANOVA analysis [1]. Nalbant and his
colleagues (2007) used the application of Taguchi method in the optimization of the cutting
parameters for a better surface finish in the turning process of the AISI 1030 steel alloy and through
careful analysis were able to obtain optimized parameters [2]. Ashish and his colleagues (2012)
analyzed the Taguchi method of parametric optimization in optimization of machining parameters
and its effect on the hardness of the piece [3]. Verma and his colleagues (2012) also used the Taguchi
method for the optimization of turning parameters to achieve the designed surface finish on ASTMA
242 TYPE-1 steel alloy [4].Optimization is to achieve a desired result under the current circumstances
and with the present facilities at the lowest cost. Therefore, Taguchi’s method with its proposed
strategy, minimizes the number of tests required and thus by using appropriate analysis, optimized
parameters can be achieved. In this paper at first Taguchi method is described and then design
experiment and a work method are carried out. Experiment analysis is covered in the following parts.
Finally, a conclusion is presented in this investigation.

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58 Advanced Materials Research III

The Taguchi Method and Its Analysis

The Taguchi method [5-7] is a powerful tool for designing in quality systems. The main principles of
the Taguchi method are:
• Quality must be produced during production, not analyzed during the process of production.
• Quality is obtained in the best way by minimizing the deviation from characteristic value. The
product should be designed so that it is reliable against uncontrollable environmental factors.
• Quality cost should be measured as a function of deviation from the standard mode and loss
should be measured within the system.
Taguchi suggests choosing parameters using orthogonal arrays for experimental design which
dramatically reduces the number of experiments. It means with the minimum number of experiments
one can reach the desired result. After conducting designed experiments using the Taguchi method,
analysis of the experiment was carried out using the ANOVA method in which one of the most
important parameters is S/N ratio that is obtained using the following equation:
 
Nominal is the best: S / NT = 10 log  y2  (1)
 
 sy 
Larger is the better (maximize): S / N L = −10 log  1 ∑ 12 
n
(2)
n y i i =1

Smaller is the better (minimize): S / N S = −10 log  ∑ yi 2 

 n
1 (3)
 n i =1 
2
Where y is the average of observed data, s y is the variance of y , n is the number of observations
and y is the observed data.
In order to select effective optimized parameters in process in the Taguchi method, the following
stages must be followed [8]:
1. Determine the performance characteristics and selection of process parameters for
experiment.
2. Specify the number of levels of the process parameters and the possible interaction between
process parameters.
3. Choose orthogonal array for desired experiments.
4. Carry out experiments according to the selected experiments from orthogonal array.
5. Calculate the total S/N ratio.
6. Analyze the experimental results using S/N ratio and ANOVA.
7. Select the optimal levels of process parameters.
8. Verify the optimal parameters according to the confirmation test.

The Experimental Design

The Experimental Conditions. Workpiece as the rebar diameter is φ 35, and the mechanical and
chemical characteristics are given in tables 1 and 2:

Table 1. Mechanical properties of Titanium Alloy Ti-6Al-4V

Elongation Hardness Tensile Strength Yield Strength Reduction in Area Elastic Modulus
(%) (HRC) (MPa) (MPa) (%) (GPa)

14 36 993 924 30 113.8

Table 2. Chemical composition of Titanium Alloy Ti-6Al-4V, % weight

Ti Al V Fe C O N Y H
Base 6.4 4.2 0.05 0.02 0.16 <0.01 0.001 0.003
 Advanced Materials Research Vol. 685 59

The insert used with the standard code DNMG 110404, Group No is 12 related to LAMINA
manufacturer, and holder is used with the standard code TDHNR 2020 K15.
Initial characteristics parameters are as the follows:
Depth of cut 0.6 mm, Cutting speed 20 m/min, Feed rate 0.14 mm/rev.
The feasible range for the cutting parameters was recommended by a machining handbook, i.e.,
depth of cut in the range o.3-1 mm, cutting speed in the range 14-28 m/min, feed rate in the range
0.12-0.16 mm/rev. Therefore, three of cutting parameters were selected as shown in Table 3.
The experimental layout for the three cutting parameters using the L9 orthogonal array is shown in
table 4.

Table 3. Cutting parameters and their levels

Symbol Cutting parameter Unit Level 1 Level 2 Level 3
A Depth of cut mm 0.3 0.6 1
B Cutting speed m/min 14 20 28
C Feed rate mm/rev 0.12 0.14 0.16

Table 4.Experimental layout using on L9 orthogonal array

Experiment No. Cutting parameter level

A B
Depth of cut
1 1
2 1
3 1
4 2
5 2
6 2
7 3
8 3
9 3
C D
Cutting speed Feed rate Error
1 1
2 2
3 3
1 2
2 3
3 1
1 3
2 1
3 2

The schematic of the experimental procedure is given in fig.1:

Fig.1. Schematic of the experimental procedure

A sample of surface roughness graph with the length of 0.8 mm after doing experiment is shown
below:
60 Advanced Materials Research III

Fig. 2. A sample of surface roughness graph

Experiment Analysis
S/N Ratio Analysis. As mentioned in The Taguchi Method and Its Analysis with respect to the fact
that the lower the surface roughness, the better, therefore equation (3) is the S/N calculation used for
finding the ratio and the experiments’ results. The calculated S/N is represented in table 5:

Table 5. Experimental results for surface roughness and S/N ratio

Cutting parameter level Measured surface Calculated S/N ratio for
A B C roughness (µm) surface roughness (dB)
Depth of cut Cutting speed Feed rate
1 0.3 125 0.12 1.215 -1.6915
2 0.3 180 0.14 1.595 -4.0552
3 0.3 250 0.16 2.149 -6.6447
4 0.6 125 0.14 1.106 -0.8751
5 0.6 180 0.16 1.224 -1.7556
6 0.6 250 0.12 0.952 0.4273
7 1 125 0.16 1.926 -5.6931
8 1 180 0.12 1.548 -3.7954
9 1 250 0.14 1.76 -4.9102

A. Variance analysis ( ANOVA )

As the experiment design is orthogonal, the S/N ratio can be obtained for all parameters’ levels.
The results of the S/N ratio are given in table 6:

Table 6. Response table mean S/N ratio for surface roughness factor
Symbol Cutting parameter Mean S/N ratio (dB)

Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Max-Min

A Depth of cut -4.1304 -0.7345 -4.7996 4.0651
B Cutting speed -2.7532 -3.2021 -3.7092 0.956
C Feed rate -1.6865 -3.2802 -4.6978 3.0113
Total mean S/N ratio = -3.2215

Fig.3, the effect of the parameters level on the S/N ratio is given:
 Advanced Materials Research Vol. 685 61

Fig.3. The mean signal-to-noise graph for surface roughness

According to fig.3, it can be said that optimal choices are carried out in the A2 level of deep of cut,
B1 level of cutting speed and C1 level of feed rate.
The percentage of participation of machining parameters (p %) can be obtained using the ANOVA
analysis that results of which are given in table 7:

Table 7. Results of the analysis of variance for surface roughness

Symbol Source of Degree of Sum of square Mean square F ratio Contribution (%)
variance freedom
A DOC 2 28.506 14.253 18.788 63.33
B Cutting speed 2 1.373 0.686 0.905 3.05
C Feed rate 2 13.617 6.809 8.975 30.25
Error 2 1.517 0.759 3.37
Total 8 45.012 100

Table 7 shows that the effect of the depth of cut on the surface roughness is 63.33% (parameters
percentage participation). In other words, the depth of cut had a larger effect than the feed rate and in
turn, the feed rate had a larger effect than the cutting speed.

Confirmation Test
Once the optimal level of the process parameters has been selected, the final step is to predict and
verify the improvement of the performance characteristic using the optimal level of the process
parameters. The η̂ estimated S/N ratio using the optimal level of the process parameters can be
calculated as [1]:
n
ηˆ = η m + ∑ (ηi − η m ) (4)
i =1

η η
Where m is the total mean of the S/N ratio, i the mean S/N ratio at the optimal level, and n the
number of the main design parameters that affect the performance characteristic.

Table 8. Results of the confirmation experiment for surface roughness

Optimal cutting parameters
Initial cutting parameters
Experiment
Level A2B2C2 A2B!C1
Surface roughness (µm) 2.506 1.102
S/N ratio (dB) -7.9796 -0.8436
Improvement of S/N ratio =7.136
62 Advanced Materials Research III

The estimated S/N ratio using the optimal cutting parameters for surface roughness can then be
obtained. Table 8 shows the results of the confirmation test using the optimal cutting parameters of
surface roughness. The increase of the S/N ratio from the initial cutting parameters to the optimal
cutting parameters is 7.136 dB. Therefore, the surface roughness value is improved by about 2.27
times. In the foregoing discussion, the experiment results confirm the prior design and analysis for
optimizing the cutting parameters. Surface roughness in turning operation is improved perfectly
through this approach.

Conclusion
The result of this paper shows that we can achieve optimized parameters with a fewer number of
experiments using the Taguchi experimental design.
Taguchi analysis of the S/N ratio and the ANOVA analysis are one of the easiest ways to achieve
optimum conditions. In the experiments on Ti alloys, the depth of cut with a percentage participation
of 63.33% had a larger effect than the feed rate and cutting speed.
By the ANOVA analysis, the best results are related to A2B1C1 levels which are not presented in
the experiments and can only be obtained through the ANOVA analysis. This is verified using the
confirmation test. Surface roughness improved 227% from its initial state.

References
[1] W.H. Yang, Y.S. Tarng “Design optimization of cutting parameters for turning operations based
on the Taguchi method” Journal of Material processing Technology 84 (1998) 122-129.
[2] M. Nalbant, H. Gokkaya, G. Sur “Application of Taguchi method in the optimization of cutting
parameters for surface roughness in turning” Material and Desing 28 (2007) 1379-1385.
[3] Ashish Yadav, Ajay Bangar, Rajan Sharma, Deepak pal“ Optimization of Turning Process
Parameters for Their Effect on En 8 Material Work piece Hardness by Using Taguchi parametric
Optimization Method” International Journal of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering (IJMIE),
ISSN No. 2231-6477, Volume-1, Issue-3,2012.
[4] Jitendra Verma , Pankaj Agrawal , Lokesh Bajpai “ Turning Parameter Optimization For Surface
Roughness of ASTM A242 Type-1 Alloys Steel by Taguchi Method” International Journal of
Advances in Engineering & Technology, March 2012, ISSN: 2231-1963, Vol.3, Issue-1,
pp.255-261.
[5] Ranjit K. Roy “A Primer on the Taguchi Method” Publication Date: June 1990, ISBN-10:
087263468X.
[6] G. Taguchi, Introduction to Quality Engineering, Asian Productivity Organazition, Tokyo, 1990.
[7] P.J. Ross, Taguchi Techniques for Quality Engineering, McGraw Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ,
1989.
[8] C.Y. Nian, W.H. Yang, Y.S. Tarng “Optimization of turning operations with multiple
performance characteristics” Journal of Material Processing Technology 95 (1999) 90-96.
Advanced Materials Research III
10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMR.685

Optimization of Cutting Parameters for Turning Operation of Titanium Alloy Ti-6Al-4V Material
Workpiece Using the Taguchi Method
10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMR.685.57