Experimental investigation and multi-response optimisation of end milling in aluminium-5083 alloy using desirability analysis

The present study deals with end milling of aluminium alloy (Al 5083-H112) with carbide tools in dry condition. Process parameters, such as cutting speed, feed rate, depth of cut, and tool parameters such as nose shape and number of flutes are varied to investigate their effect on material removal rate (MRR), resultant cutting force (CF) and surface roughness (R-a). Analysis of variance is employed to find the significance of the individual process parameters on the responses. The concept of desirability function analysis is employed to optimise the process parameters for machining. The composite desirability value determines the optimum combination of parameters obtained from all the responses' simultaneous optimisation. A confirmation test is conducted based on the optimal parameter setting to exemplify the potency of the approach. The confirmation test results are convincingly close to the predicted ones as the errors are less than 5%, which signifies the robustness of the model. [Submitted 9 August 2021; Accepted 14 December 2021]