Experimental Validation for Energy Consumption in Machining of Aluminum 6061-T6 Alloy at Transitional Cutting Speeds

Abstract

The environmental studies related to machine tools shows that mostly the environmental impacts are due to the consumption of electrical energy. It is a big challenge for modern industrial sector to improvise their existing manufacturing processes in order to reduce their energy consumption and increase profit margin. Machining is the most commonly used manufacturing process and is accountable for carbon footprints owing to their energy consumption. This study presents an experimental validation for energy consumption in machining of Aluminum 6061-T6 alloy at transitional cutting speeds and selection of this alloy is based on its usage in automobiles, aerospace and bio-medical industries. Previously, most of energy consumption related work in machining was carried out on conventional cutting speeds so transitional cutting speeds (1000m/min – 1500m/min) were selected which are below high cutting speed but above conventional cutting speed ranges. The effect of feed, cutting speed and depth of cut was studied on specific cutting energy consumption, cutting power and surface roughness. Experimental trials were designed by Taguchi L9 orthogonal array and performed on two different machine tools using single point cutting technique. Power of machine tools was measured with the help of power analyzer that was attached to the main bus of the machine. In all experiments fresh cutting inserts were used to avoid the effect of tool wear during energy calculations. The main purpose of this research was to validate the benchmark results and acquire the minimum value of specific cutting energy consumption and surface roughness during turning of Al 6061-T6 alloy at transitional cutting speeds. The experimental results were further analyzed with the help of ANOVA and main effects plots. During ANOVA analysis the feed rate was most prominent factor for minimizing the SCE consumption and surface roughness followed by depth of cut and cutting speed. In main effect plots, the best result for specific cutting energy consumption was obtained at highest level of feed rate and depth of cut while for surface roughness, it was achieved at lowest value of feed, depth of cut and cutting speed. These result were also totally endorsed by benchmark study.