Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2017) 93:4063–4074
DOI 10.1007/s00170-017-0782-3
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Experimental study of surface roughness and geometrical
and dimensional tolerances in helical milling of AISI 4340
alloy steel
Mohammad Hossein Saadatbakhsh 1 & Hadi Imani 1 & Mohammad Hossein Sadeghi 1 &
Sina Sabbaghi Farshi 1
Received: 27 November 2016 / Accepted: 6 July 2017 / Published online: 1 August 2017
# Springer-Verlag London Ltd. 2017
Abstract The ability to manufacture a product is assessed by
factors such as surface quality and features tolerances. The
main goal of the present investigation is to carry out an exper-
imental study on the accuracy of holes produced through a
novel helical milling process on AISI 4340 alloy steel. This
process is referred to as production of holes through mobile
milling on a helical path. Taguchi experimental design method
was used in order to investigate the effect of the main param-
eters including feed rate, cutting speed, axial depth of cut, and
workpiece hardness on the hole surface roughness and geo-
metrical and dimensional tolerances. In addition, the impact of
using two methods of minimum quantity lubrication and dry
milling was discussed. The results showed that the helical
milling method can be a suitable alternative for conventional
drilling. Lubrication method was the most effective parameter
on surface roughness and nominal diameter with contribution
of 43 and 41%, respectively. In addition, cutting speed had the
most impact on circularity and cylindricity with contribution
of 44 and 41%, respectively. Furthermore, the most precise
hole was obtained at cutting speed of 70 m/min and feed rate
of 0.01 mm/tooth in presence of minimum quantity lubrica-
tion system using vegetable oil, while using mineral oil led to
making a hole with highest surface quality.
Keywords Helical milling . Geometrical and dimensional
tolerances . Surface roughness . Minimum quantity lubrication
* Mohammad Hossein Sadeghi
sadeghim@modares.ac.ir
1
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tarbiat Modares University,
Jalal Al-e-Ahmad Boulevard, P.O. Box 14115-143, Tehran, Iran
1 Introduction
Drilling operation is an ultimate and critical stage in
manufacturing of machined products. In this process, minor
errors can lead to nonconformity in the assembly sets. One of
the main problems in conventional drilling is zero cutting
speed at the drill center. This phenomenon can result in unde-
sirable conditions such as tool deflection and dimensional
deviation of the drilled hole in large thrust cutting forces [1].
Helical milling, as a novel method of hole making with high
quality and accuracy, is referred to production of a hole
through rotation of the milling tool along a helical path.
Some advantages of this method in comparison with conven-
tional drilling are regarded as smooth wear pattern at periph-
ery cutting edges, small axial force, and high accuracy.
Moreover, in conventional drilling, exit burrs is formed in hole
due to the cutting lip geometry of the drill tool and plastic
deformation of the workpiece material [2]. The kinematics
of helical milling allows making holes with different diame-
ters independent of tool diameter and without changing the
tool, which offers great versatility and reduction in costs and
time of machining [3, 4]. Hence, the application of helical
milling has been widespread in the manufacturing of compo-
nents in various industries such as aerospace, energy indus-
tries, and excavation equipment.
Elimination of heat generated in the hole-making pro-
cess is another important factor in making of high quality
holes. Using the conventional methods of lubrication re-
sults in insufficient fluid penetration into the cutting re-
gion, significant increase in machining costs, and
overusing of cutting fluid. From another point of view,
additional attention to environmental issues, increased re-
strictions, and law enforcements has forced the industry
owners to limit using mineral-based oils [5]. Therefore,
there are many proceeding investigations that have been
4064
Fig. 1 A 3D schematic of tool
movement inside a workpiece in
helical milling
focused on replacing mineral-based cutting fluids with
eco-friendly fluids with lower costs and higher efficiency
in terms of lubrication. Some of these methods include
solid lubrication, cryogenic, and minimum quantity lubri-
cation (MQL) using renewable fluids such as vegetable-
based oils [6]. In the following, some researches related
with helical milling method have been discussed.
Iyer et al. [7] conducted a comparative study on helical
milling and conventional drilling for making a precise hole
on AISI D2 hardened steel. They concluded that the round-
ness of the holes that were helical milled using the solid
carbide tool was better than the indexable kind and the
surface finish was in the order of 0.3 μm. It implies that
reaming for the machining of precision holes can be elim-
inated using this method.
Denkena et al. [3] performed helical milling on CFRP–
titanium layer compounds and realized that the undeformed
chip thickness has a sinusoidal behavior in helical milling.
Fig. 2 Feed rate components of
helical milling process
Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2017) 93:4063–4074
Thus, the produced chips in the helical method were small
and detached while in conventional drilling the chips were
large and continuous. They also showed that, due to three
directional movement of the cutting tool in this method, the
demands on the feed drive acceleration and the rigidity and
stiffness of the machine tool are very high.
Shan et al. [4] conducted a study on effect of axial depth of
cut (helical pitch) and acknowledged that the length of tool
path in helical milling is much longer than in conventional
drilling and with increasing the magnitude of this parameter,
the length of path reduces. Cutting forces followed by vibra-
tions of the tools also increased with the helical pitch ampli-
fication during orbital milling. However, the axial force in the
orbital milling hole was about eight to ten times smaller than
that in the conventional drilling.
Sasahara et al. [8] performed helical milling on aluminum
alloy using MQL method and concluded that the hole circu-
larity will be drawn to one side when using one nozzle for the
Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2017) 93:4063–4074
Fig. 3 Geometry of undeformed chip [3]
cooling system. Better results were achieved when two noz-
zles have been used. In addition, surface roughness in the
MQL method was almost the same as in the conventional
method; however, there was a significant reduction when
compared with the dry condition.
Li et al. [9] investigated the hole quality in dry helical
milling of Ti6Al4V alloy and stated that high hole quality
was observed even the near end of tool life from the point of
view of diameters, circularity, and surface finish due to the
smooth wear pattern at periphery cutting edges.
Olvera et al. [10] indicated that dimensional error in
drilling and circularity error in helical milling were small-
er, respectively, when two strategies of helical milling and
conventional drilling conducted on titanium alloy using a
ball-nose end mill.
Ribero et al. [11] studied the geometrical dimensions and
tolerances after milling AISI H13 hot work die steel. It was
shown that up milling results in tighter tolerances.
Additionally, using ceramic tools for milling the annealed
steel and the PVD-coated tungsten carbide for hardened steel
would offer the best tolerances, respectively.
Li and Liu [12] established a 3D surface topography sim-
ulation model to simulate the surface finish profile generated
after a helical milling operation. Results deduced that the sim-
ulation results had a good compatibility with the experimental
results. It also indicated a nonlinear dependency between
Table 1 Chemical
composition of AISI Element Weight percent (%)
4340 steel
C 0.38
Ni 1.7
Cr 0.9
Mn 0.69
Mo 0.3
Si 0.28
Steel Base
4065
Fig. 4 The Garrison Ltd. solid carbide tools used for the experiments
surface roughness and feed rate. When a lower feed rate was
considered, better surface quality was achieved.
Kilickap et al. [13] analyzed the effect of various machin-
ing parameters on surface roughness and discovered that the
best surface quality can be obtained in low cutting speed and
feed rate. They also found out that the surface roughness was
lower in the presence of MQL method as opposed to dry
cooling with compressed air due to lower temperature.
Tasdelen et al. [14] investigated the drilling of hardened
steel under different cooling conditions, and it came to the
understanding that the highest surface roughness is obtained
at conditions of dry pressurized air. There was no obvious
difference between the surface roughness when using MQL
and emulsion lubrication.
According to the previous researches on helical milling,
lubrication method and lubricant type have a significant effect
on the surface roughness and geometrical and dimensional
tolerances. On the other hand, no study on helical milling of
hardened steel using MQL lubrication method was found.
Therefore, in this paper, the effects of cutting parameters on
surface roughness and tolerances in helical milling of
AISI4340 hardened steel had been investigated. Also, two
lubricating methods (MQL system and pressurized air) and
two kinds of MQL oils (vegetable- and mineral-based oils)
were utilized.
The main goal of the present study is to investigate the
geometrical and dimensional tolerances and surface roughness
of the hole created by helical milling on AlSI4340 under two
lubrication methods, experimentally. For this purpose,
Fig. 5 The equipment used in experiments
4066 Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2017) 93:4063–4074

Fig. 6 Sections used for

measuring geometrical and
dimensional tolerances using
CMM

qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
Taguchi experimental design was used and the effects of cut- Vf ¼ V 2fha þ V 2fht ð4Þ
ting parameters including cutting speed, feed rate, axial depth
of cut, and workpiece hardness on the quality of the created  
hole were assessed. V fha
α ¼ arctan ð5Þ
V fht

2 Kinematics of helical milling ap ¼ tanðαÞ∙π∙Dh ð6Þ

Despite conventional drilling, nominal diameter of the ulti-
mate hole in helical milling is a combination of tool diameter
and diameter of helical path. Figure 1 illustrates the kinematics
of helical milling. In this process, the cutting tool has three
motions simultaneously, including rotation around own axis,
axial movement and revolution around hole axis.
Feed rate in helical milling has three main components
(Fig. 2): (1) axial feed rate per tooth, (2) tangential feed rate
of the cutting edge, and (3) tangential feed rate of the helix
which are given by Eqs. (1), (2), and (3), respectively. The
tangential feed rate tool path is calculated using Eq. (4). Helix
angle and depth per helical rotation can also be obtained
through Eqs. (5) and (6) [3].
V fha ¼ f za ∙z∙n
In these relations, z represents the end mill number of teeth;
n is the rotational spindle speed per minute; za and zt show the
axial and tangential feed rate per tooth, respectively; and Dh
and DB are the helical path diameter and the hole diameter. In
helical milling, as the ratio of the hole diameter to the tool
diameter increases, the material removal rate enhances and
so, the efficiency of the process will be improved. However,
this improvement faces limitations in blind holes. If the tool
diameter becomes less than half the hole diameter, the opera-
tion will not be conducted properly. In addition, cutting forces
will also increase and leave some unwanted effects behind
[15]. It should be noted that due to the small size of cutting
region, the probability of built-up edge formation reduces in
helical milling [16]. Unlike the conventional drilling, material
ð1Þ

V ft ¼ f zt ∙z∙n ð2Þ

Dh
V fht ¼ V ft ∙ ð3Þ
DB

Table 2 The effective parameters and their relative levels

Factors Levels

Level 1 Level 2 Level 3

Workpiece hardness (H) (HRC) 34 45 –

Cutting speed (Vc) (m/min) 10 40 70
Feed rate (fz) (mm/tooth) 0.01 0.04 0.07
Axial depth of cut (ap) (mm) 0.05 0.1 0.15
Lubricant (Lub) MQL (mineral) MQL (veg) Air
Fig. 7 Surface topography of machined holes
Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2017) 93:4063–4074 4067

Table 3 L18 design experiment array with relative output

Test no. H (HRC) Vc (m/min) fz (mm/tooth) ap (mm) Lub Circularity (mm) Cylindricity (mm) Hole diameter (mm) Ra (μm)

1 34 10 0.01 0.05 Veg 0.025 0.041 8.143 0.94

2 34 10 0.04 0.1 Min 0.027 0.038 8.190 0.87
3 34 10 0.07 0.15 Air 0.030 0.042 8.230 1.45
4 34 40 0.01 0.05 Min 0.027 0.030 8.130 0.42
5 34 40 0.04 0.1 Air 0.029 0.029 8.185 1.11
6 34 40 0.07 0.15 Veg 0.025 0.032 8.159 0.85
7 34 70 0.01 0.1 Veg 0.015 0.023 8.125 0.57
8 34 70 0.04 0.15 Min 0.020 0.029 8.151 0.40
9 34 70 0.07 0.05 Air 0.029 0.041 8.184 1.09
10 45 10 0.01 0.15 Air 0.030 0.043 8.232 0.85
11 45 10 0.04 0.05 Veg 0.031 0.044 8.180 0.87
12 45 10 0.07 0.1 Min 0.032 0.044 8.203 0.91
13 45 40 0.01 0.1 Air 0.027 0.035 8.191 0.84
14 45 40 0.04 0.15 Veg 0.026 0.032 8.177 0.64
15 45 40 0.07 0.05 Min 0.030 0.039 8.182 0.62
16 45 70 0.01 0.15 Min 0.020 0.026 8.160 0.27
17 45 70 0.04 0.05 Air 0.028 0.045 8.178 0.77
18 45 70 0.07 0.1 Veg 0.023 0.035 8.158 0.89

removal in helical milling occurs by cutting rather than by
extrusion and could therefore be expected to relate to a signif-
icantly lower thrust force [7]. There are two types of machin-
ing according to the path of cutting tool in helical milling:
The axial feed of cutting tool leads to machining the work-
piece by front cutting edge, and the tangential feed of the
cutting tool makes the workpiece to be machined by the
periphery cutting edges with which the wall of the ma-
chined cylindrical hole is constructed [12].
The helical milling process includes two different cutting
movements simultaneously: a peripheral discontinuous cut on
the peripheral cutting edge (similar to milling) and a frontal
continuous cut on the axial cutting edge (similar to conven-
tional drilling). Considering these aspects of helical milling, a
discontinuous chip will be formed [3]. Figure 3 shows the
geometry of the undeformed chip after a tool rotation angle
of φ = 180. The geometrical relations are as follows
3 Materials and equipment
The tests were implemented on AlSI 4340 steel alloy cylin-
drical samples with diameter of 42 mm and height of 15 mm.
The chemical composition of this alloy is given in Table 1.
Samples were austenitized at 870 °C in the furnace, then
quenched and held at 425 °C, and finally, put in an oil bath
to cool down to room temperature.
The experiments were executed on a three axis CNC ma-
chine tool of S1354A model with a Mitsubishi controller and
maximum spindle speed of 8000 rpm by down milling meth-
od. Six-millimeter four-fluted solid carbide end mill tools with
helical angle of 30° and TiAl coating were used. The images
of the described tools are presented in Fig. 4.
MQL system with two nozzles placed at 45° relative to the
tool axis was utilized. The experiments were conducted using
two mineral-based and vegetable-based oils in MQL system,

htan ¼ f zt sinðφÞ ð7Þ

hax ¼ f za ð8Þ

Dt
bax ¼ ð9Þ
2

where htan and hax represent the undeformed chip thickness

of milling part and drilling part, respectively; fzt and fza are
the tangential and axial feed per tooth, respectively; φ is
tool rotational angle; bax is undeformed chip width; and Dt Fig. 8 Variation of undeformed chip thickness versus tool rotation angle
is tool diameter. in helical milling
4068 Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2017) 93:4063–4074

Fig. 9 Cutting force component

variations in experiment number
2

and also dry conditions using pressurized air. The MQL oil and costs. In order to eliminate experimental errors, the entire
flow rate was 100 ml/h, and the air pressure was 3 bar. experiments were carried out randomly. In addition, to in-
Figure 5 shows the experimental setup and configuration. crease the accuracy of experiments and reduce errors regard-
To measure the geometrical and dimensional tolerances, a ing tool wear, cutting tool was changed after every five-hole
Wenzel CMM machine (model LH87), with 2 mm tangential making cycles. Figure 7 demonstrates the 18 created holes and
probe, accuracy of 2.7 μm, and Metrosoft 3.60 software was presents images of hole surface topography in experiment
utilized. Measurements were carried out in three sections with numbers 3 and 4 in which the magnitude of Ra was 1.45
a distance of 3, 8, and 13 mm of the workpiece surface (Fig. and 0.42, respectively.
6). In addition, surface roughness of holes was determined
using a Mahr-Perthomether M2 roughness tester device.
Measurements were carried out within the sampling length 5 Results and discussion
of 5.6 in four different regions. At the end, mean value of
measurements was reported as the average surface roughness As expressed, 18 experiments were carried out and the nom-
(Ra) of machined hole. inal diameters and tolerances of the created holes were mea-
sured subsequently using CMM device. Table 3 shows the
L18 experimental design array along with the measured toler-
4 Experimental methods ances and surface roughness in each experiment. In the fol-
lowing, the relative output will be studied.
In order to reduce the number of experiments and appraise the
effect of important parameters on the hole making process,
five factors were taken into account based on Taguchi design 5.1 Surface roughness
method: workpiece hardness (H), cutting speed (Vc), feed rate
(fz), axial depth of cut (ap), and the type of lubricating system. Surface roughness is considered as one of the most impor-
To implement the experiments, Taguchi L18 orthogonal array tant characteristics in determining surface quality and
was employed and overall 18 experiments were conducted. plays a crucial role in application of components under
Table 2 demonstrates the variables of experiments and their dynamic loads [17].
levels. It should be stated that, if all the experimental condi- As shown in Table 3, the surface roughness magnitude in
tions were considered, 35 = 243 experiments should have been all experiments was lower than 1.45 μm which indicates the
executed which would indeed not be possible in terms of time superiority of helical milling to conventional drilling methods.
As mentioned before, the helical milling consists of two mech-
Table 4 ANOVA of surface roughness in helical millig of AISI 4340 anisms of chip formation. In continuous mechanism of cut-
ting, the undeformed chip thickness is too low and negli-
Source Adj SS DF F value P value
gible. But in discontinuous one, the undeformed chip
H 0.06009 1 11.40 0.010 thickness and axial depth of cut vary gradually versus tool
Vc 0.32434 2 30.76 <0.0001 rotation angle (Fig. 8). This phenomenon leads to gradual
fz 0.31121 2 29.51 <0.0001 engagement of the tool and lower cutting forces [18]. For
ap 0.04588 2 4.35 0.049 better understanding, cutting forces in experiment number
Lubrication 0.57221 2 54.27 <0.0001 2 was measured using Kistler 9255B dynamomater (Fig.
Residual 0.04218 8 9). The components of cutting force were low (≤45 N)
Total 1.35591 17 because of helical milling kinematic and gradual engage-
ment of the tool during cutting process.
Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2017) 93:4063–4074 4069

Fig. 10 Effect of main a 1.2 b 1.2

parameters on surface roughness.
a Lubrication. b Cutting speed. c 1
1
Feed rate. d Axial depth of cut. e

Ra (µm)
Workpiece hardness 0.8

Ra (µm)
0.8

0.6
0.6
0.4
0.4 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
Veg Min Air Vc (mm/min)

c 1.2 d 1.2

1 1

Ra (µm)
Ra (µm)

0.8 0.8

0.6 0.6

0.4 0.4
0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05 0.06 0.07 0.08 0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2
Fz(mm/tooth) ap(mm)

e 1.2

1
Ra (µm)

0.8

0.6

0.4
30 35 40 45 50
Hardness (HRC)

Analysis of variance (ANOVA) test was performed to iden-
tify the significance of the process parameters which affect the
surface roughness. ANOVA helps in testing the significance
of all main factors and their interactions by comparing the
mean square against an estimate of the experimental errors
at specific confidence levels. Initially, all the main vari-
ables and their two factor interaction were considered.
Then, insignificant factors were considered as model er-
rors. Table 4 presents the final model analysis of variance
for surface roughness.
According to Table 4, P values, smaller than 0.05 (95%
confidence level), indicate the significant factors. The results
Residual 3% Hardness 5%
imply that all the main parameters are significant. The R2
value of the final model for estimation of surface roughness
was 96.9% which illustrates the high accuracy of fitted model.
Figure 10 shows the main effects of parameters on the
average surface roughness. Lubrication methods comparison
(Fig. 10a) indicates that using pressurized air and MQL sys-
tem leads to maximum and minimum surface roughness, re-
spectively, which indicates the high penetration of lubrication
particles in MQL system. In addition, superiority of using
mineral oil over vegetable oil and pressurized air is obvious.
This phenomenon can be explained by higher oxidation
Table 5 ANOVA of hole nominal diameter in helical millig of AISI
4340

Source Adj SS DF F value P value

Cung Speed
24% H 0.001413 1 27.13 0.001
Lubricaon
42% Vc 0.004555 2 43.72 <0.0001
fz 0.001632 2 15.66 0.002
ap 0.001142 2 10.97 0.005
Lubrication 0.006119 2 58.74 <0.0001
Feed rate 23% Residual 0.000417 8
Axial depth of cut 3%
Total 0.015278 17
Fig. 11 Impact of each parameter (in percent) on the surface roughness
4070 Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2017) 93:4063–4074

Fig. 12 Effect of main a 8.22

b8.22
parameters on hole nominal
diameter. a Lubrication. b Cutting

Hole Diameter (mm)

8.2 8.2

Hole Diameter (mm)

speed. c Feed rate. d Axial depth
8.18 8.18
of cut. e Workpiece hardness
8.16 8.16

8.14 8.14

8.12 8.12
Veg Min Air 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
Vc (mm/min)
c d 8.22
8.22

8.2 8.2

Hole Diameter (mm)

Hole (mm)
8.18 8.18

8.16 8.16

8.14
8.14
8.12
8.12
0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2
0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05 0.06 0.07 0.08
Fz(mm/tooth) ap(mm)

e 8.22
8.2
Hole Diameter (mm)
8.18

8.16

8.14

8.12
30 35 40 45 50
Hardness (HRC)

resistance of mineral oils at higher temperatures which en-
hances the cutting condition and reduces friction [19].
Figure 10b demonstrates the surface roughness im-
provement versus increasing of cutting speed. In fact,
higher cutting speed leads to reduction in yield stress of
the workpiece material that facilitates plastic deformation
at higher temperatures and reduces friction and cutting
forces. Therefore, process stability improves and higher
surface quality can be achieved [20].
Figure 10c represents that as the feed rate increases, surface
roughness increases as well. In fact, the undeformed chip
thickness is increased at higher feed rates and, subsequently,
surface roughness increases as a result of higher cutting forces.
In maximum value of cutting depth, surface roughness im-
proves slightly due to elimination of plowing force. Plowing
force appears in lower cutting depths and lower feed rates due
to the small undeformed chip thickness. This phenomenon
results in a nonuniform plastic flow in the material that leads
to surface deterioration [21]. This can be seen in Fig. 10d
which implies the negligible role of cutting depth on the over-
all trend of surface roughness. Figure 10e shows that by in-
creasing workpiece hardness, surface roughness increases as
well. This is because tendency for built-up edge reduces and
therefore a more uniform surface will be achieved.
In order to obtain each parameter contribution percent, the
sum of square of each factor was divided by the total amount

Residual 3%
Hardness 9%
Table 6 ANOVA of hole circularity in helical millig of AISI 4340

Source Adj SS DF F value P value

Lubricaon
40% H 0.000023 1 11.93 0.009
Cung Speed Vc 0.000134 2 34.52 <0.0001
30% fz 0.000056 2 14.48 0.002
ap 0.000034 2 8.64 0.010
Lubrication 0.000067 2 17.29 0.001
Axial depth of cut 7% Feed rate 11% Residual 0.000016 8
Fig. 13 Impact of each parameter (in percent) on the size of the created Total 0.000329 17
hole
Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2017) 93:4063–4074 4071

Fig. 14 Effect of main a 0.035 b 0.035

parameters on hole circularity. a

Circularity (mm)
Lubrication. b Cutting speed. c 0.03 0.03

Circularity (mm)
Feed rate. d Axial depth of cut. e
Workpiece hardness 0.025 0.025

0.02 0.02

0.015 0.015
Veg Min Air 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
Vc (mm/min)

c d
0.035 0.035

0.03 0.03

Circularity (mm)

Circularity (mm)
0.025 0.025

0.02 0.02

0.015 0.015
0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05 0.06 0.07 0.08 0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2
Fz(mm/tooth) ap(mm)

e 0.035
0.03

Circularity (mm)
0.025

0.02

0.015
30 35 40 45 50
Hardness (HRC)

and multiplied by 100. The statistical analysis revealed that
lubrication, cutting speed, and feed rate have the most effect
on surface roughness by 42.2, 23.9, and 22.9%, respectively.
The contribution of each process parameter on the surface
roughness is presented in Fig. 11.
5.2 Hole nominal diameter
The hole nominal diameter is also regarded as one of the
essential factors of hole quality that is mostly influenced by
cutting parameters. Table 5 presents the analysis of variance
for the hole diameter by considering that the desired diameter
of the created holes in this study was 8.1 mm. Similarly, all the
main parameters were significant for hole diameter.
Figure 12 illustrates the effect of main parameters on the
hole nominal size. It can be realized that the hole diameter
changes in the range from 8.1 to 8.2 mm, independent of
cutting conditions. The effect of various lubricating methods
on the hole nominal size is depicted in Fig. 12a. The results
indicate that the best tolerance is achieved when using MQL
system. This superiority can be ascribed to the formation of an
oil layer between the machining surface and the cutting tool.
Using vegetable-based oil can reduce friction and generated
heat more effective due to its high viscosity. Additionally,
vegetable-based oil has higher polarity in lubrication bound-
aries which allow stronger interactions with the lubricated
surfaces [5]. The dry condition with pressurized air deteriorate
the hole quality because of inadequate cooling and lubrication
of the cutting region. As shown in Fig. 12b, increase in cutting
speed reduces the deviations of the hole diameter. The cutting
speed is the only parameter which has such a positive effect on
the hole quality. In fact, higher cutting speed increases heat
generation in cutting region and reduces cutting forces which
leads to diameter deviation improvement. According to Fig.
12c, as feed rate increases, undeformed chip thickness in-
creases as well and leads to higher cutting forces and tool
deflection. As a result, the hole diameter diverges from its
nominal size. Based on the kinematics of helical milling pro-
cess, higher axial depth of cut enhances the helical pitch and
subsequently cutting forces. Enhanced cutting forces increase
Residual 5%
Hardness 7%
Lubricaon 20%
Axial depth of
cut 10% Cung Speed
41%
Feed rate 17%
Fig. 15 Impact of each parameter (in percent) on the circularity of the
created hole
4072 Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2017) 93:4063–4074

Fig. 16 Circular profile. a Test

number 3. b Test number 7

the vibrations and lead to deterioration of the hole quality [9]. Figure 14c also shows the effect of feed rate on hole circu-
This can be seen in Fig. 12d which indicates the effect of axial larity. As can be noticed, the variation trend of circularity is
depth of cut on the hole nominal size. Based on Fig. 12e, it can similar to the dimensional tolerance. In contrast, in Fig. 14d,
be understood that in harder material, hole diameter deviation with increase in axial depth of cut (helical pitch), the hole
from nominal size is somewhat more. This can be attributed to circularity deviation reduces. In fact, higher axial depth of
the increase in material strength and cutting forces [11]. cut enhances the contact surface between the tool and the
Furthermore, harder workpiece leads to higher tool deflection workpiece in each hole cross section. Therefore, a hole with
and more dimensional deviations. less deviation in each section is formed. On the other hand,
Figure 13 represents the parameters contribution on the enlargement of axial depth of cut reduces the number of
accuracy of the created hole. It is clear that lubrication method helical loops and shortens the tool path. This shorter path
and cutting speed have the most effective role on the dimen- reduces the machine tools errors and other external factors
sional tolerance variations. On the other hand, axial depth of affecting the operation and also leads to increased process
cut, material hardness, and feed rate have the least. The higher stability [22]. Effect of workpiece hardness on hole circu-
effect of lubrication method is due to the great potentials of the larity (Fig. 14e) is similar to the achieved results explained
MQL process as opposed to dry milling. in the previous section.
Additionally, the contribution of each process parameter on
hole circularity is presented in Fig. 15. As can be seen, cutting
5.3 Hole circularity speed is the most effective parameter that influences the hole
circularity, and the lubrication system, feed rate, axial depth of
Circularity is a geometric tolerance that expresses the amount cut, and workpiece hardness are the next, respectively.
of circularity deviation (radial deviation between highest and Figure 16 shows circular profile for two test numbers.
lowest points) on an individual circular element. Investigation According to Fig. 16a, thermal distortions and other factors
on the influence of various parameters on this tolerance shows such as tool path error and high feed rate under dry machining
that largest deviations with magnitude of 0.03 mm are obtain- (test no. 3) lead to high circular deviation. In addition, Fig. 16b
ed in low-speed helical milling under dry condition. Table 6
presents the analysis of variance for the holes circularity.
According to this table, P values less that 0.05 show the sig- Table 7 ANOVA of the hole cylindricity in helical millig of AISI 4340
nificant factors. The results imply that the effect of all main
Source Adj SS DF F value P value
parameters is significant.
Figure 14a demonstrates the effect of various lubrication H 0.00008 1 12.16 0.008
methods on hole circularity. Once again, the superiority of Vc 0.000324 2 24.58 <0.0001
vegetable-based oil over mineral-based oil and pressurized fz 0.000102 2 7.76 0.013
air is noticeable. The effect of cutting speed variations on hole ap 0.000144 2 10.91 0.005
circularity is illustrated in Fig. 14b. It can be pointed out that Lubrication 0.00009 2 6.85 0.018
the increased cutting speed has a positive effect on this toler- Residual 0.000053 8
ance. This is because of the process stability increase, similar Total 0.000794 17
to the effect of cutting speed on dimensional tolerance.
Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2017) 93:4063–4074 4073

Fig. 17 Effect of main a 0.05 b 0.05

parameters on hole cylindricity. a
Lubrication. b Cutting speed. c

Cylindricity (mm)

Cylindricity (mm)
Feed rate. d Axial depth of cut. e 0.04 0.04

Workpiece hardness
0.03 0.03

0.02 0.02
Veg Min Air 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
Vc (mm/min)

c 0.05 d 0.05

Cylindricity (mm)
Cylindricity (mm)
0.04 0.04

0.03 0.03

0.02 0.02
0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05 0.06 0.07 0.08 0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2
Fz(mm/tooth) ap(mm)

e 0.05

Cylindricity (mm)
0.04

0.03

0.02
30 35 40 45 50
Hardness (HRC)

(test number 7) is related to low feed rate and high cutting
speed in which minimum deviation, by considering an accept-
able level of tolerance, has been reached.
5.4 Hole cylindricity
By comparing the results, a significant increase in the hole
cylindricity magnitude has been identified relative to circular-
ity tolerance. This rise is an indication of the process param-
eters effect on the hole axis straightness. Table 7 shows the
analysis of variance for hole cylindricity. In this table, P
values, less than 0.05 (reliability higher than 95%), are repre-
sentations of significant factors. The results imply that all
main parameters are significant.
The effect of using various lubrication methods on hole
cylindricity is presented in Fig. 17a. As can be seen, once
again, dry milling leads to poor quality. In addition, oil type
change in MQL system does not affect this tolerance. In fact,
when hole depth increases, the MQL oil merely penetrates to
the cutting region. The cutting fluid penetration in hole depth
According to Fig. 17c–e, the effects of feed rate, axial depth
of cut, and workpiece hardness have similar trends as in the
case of circularity. The important point which is easily spotted
in these figures is that the effect of axial depth of cut on hole
cylindricity has been enhanced (Fig. 17d). As mentioned be-
fore, this is expected due to shortening the tool path and re-
ducing the unwanted errors of machine tool movements and
other external factors.
The contribution of main parameters on hole cylindricity is
shown in Fig. 18. It is noticed that the effect of using different
lubrication systems on this tolerance in comparison with two
previous tolerances has been decreased and the effect of axial
depth of cut has been doubled. Actually, hole cylindricity is a
combination of both circularity and straightness tolerances.
Residual 7% Hardness 10%
Lubricaon 11%
Axial depth of
cut 18%

is independent of applied cutting fluid.

Cung Speed
Figure 17b indicates the cutting speed effect on hole 41%
cylindricity, and it can be pointed out that the cutting Feed rate 13%
speed is a significant parameter that affects the this toler- Fig. 18 Impact of each parameter (in percent) on the cylindricity of the
ance positively. created hole
4074
Thus, by comparing the results with hole circularity and hole
nominal size, it can be comprehended that the amount and
manner of the axial depth of cut and lubrication method influ-
ence on hole straightness is one of the criteria that affects the
hole cylindricity.
6 Conclusion
In present study, helical milling process has been used and
assessed as a novel method for hole making on AISI 4340 steel,
in presence of MQL method and dry milling. For this purpose,
the effects of cutting parameters including cutting speed, feed
rate, and axial depth of cut and workpiece hardness on the hole
quality were studied using Taguchi experimental design. A
summary of the achieved results are as follows:
1. Cutting speed had the most impact on circularity and
cylindricity with contribution of 44 and 41%, respective-
ly, while lubrication method was the most effective pa-
rameter on surface roughness and nominal diameter with
contribution of 43 and 41%, respectively.
2. The MQL lubrication system using mineral-based oil can
effectively reduce friction and result in holes with highest
quality due to higher oxidation resistance of mineral oils
at higher temperatures, while using vegetable-based oil
alternatively can lead to making a hole with highest pre-
cision that can be described by higher polarity of
vegetable-based oil in lubrication boundaries which al-
lows stronger interactions with the lubricated surfaces
3. Increasing axial depth of cut, in contradiction to its negative
effect on hole nominal size, leads to reduction in geometri-
cal tolerances of the created hole contradiction due to short-
ening the tool path and reducing the unwanted errors of
machine tool movements and its effect on hole cylindricity
is twice relative to circularity and other external factors.
4. Workpiece hardness has a negative impact on geometrical
dimensional tolerances due to tool deflection.
5. The most favorable hole is achieved at cutting speed of
70 m/min, feed rate of 0.01 mm/tooth, and axial cutting
depth of 0.15 mm.
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