Cutting Tool Wear Optimization in the Machining of Fly Ash Geopolymer using Taguchi Method

Geopolymer is a new material that begins to become a phenomenon especially in the industrial sector. Based on the results of the previous study, the use of geopolymer has been widely applied in the cement and concrete sectors. This is because the ability of geopolymer is able to dry at ambient temperature and within a short period of time. In contrast, its machinable properties particularly with respect to tool wear analysis of geopolymer has not been reported. So, this research is carried out to identify the best parameter settings of machining geopolymer material with respect to tool wear and identify the most significant parameters that give an optimal value of tool wear using Taguchi method. Twenty two samples of geopolymer were prepared to undergo compressive and lathe operation in order to obtain the results. The sample are prepared with two shape which are cube and cylinder shape. Material are mixed based on quantity that has been decided. The result obtained from this research will indicate whether fly ash geopolymer is machinable. In order to identify the best parameter combination and significant parameter that influenced machining of geopolymer, Taguchi method as optimization method is used. The results shows that the most significant parameter that influenced machining on geopolymers are feed rate 47.961345% and followed by cutting speed 23.98723% whereas depth of cut 21.247339% only gives a little effect. The best combination parameter has also been suggested from the experiments. The result gathered from this research will be useful to expand the use of geopolymer in the industrial sector, especially in machining.