Machinability study on discontinuously reinforced aluminium Composites (DRACs) using response surface methodology and Taguchi’s design of experiments under dry cutting condition

The development of metal matrix composites with iscontinuous reinforcement represents a well-established method for improving the strength and stiffness of a material. This paper discusses the use of Taguchi’s design of experiments and response surface methodology (RSM) for minimising the surface roughness in turning of discontinuously reinforced aluminium composites (DRACs) having aluminum alloy 6061 as the matrix and containing 15 vol. % of silicon carbide particles with a mean diameter of 25μm under dry cutting condition. The measured results are then collected and analysed with the help of a commercial software package MINITAB15. The experiments are conducted using Taguchi’s experimental design technique. The matrices of test conditions include cutting speed, feed rates and depth of cut. The effect of cutting parameters on surface roughness is evaluated and the optimum cutting condition for minimising the surface roughness is determined. A second-order model is established between the cutting parameters and the surface roughness using RSM. The experimental results reveal that the most significant machining parameter for surface roughness is feed, followed by cutting speed. The predicted values and measured values are fairly close, which indicates that the developed model can be effectively used to predict the surface roughness in the machining of DRACs.