TECHNICAL PAPER Cutting parameter optimization in shoulder milling of commercially pure molybdenum Hu¨ seyin Go¨ kçe 1 • I ˙ brahim Çiftçi 2 • Halil Demir 3 Received: 7 February 2018 / Accepted: 26 June 2018 Ó The Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering 2018 Abstract Due to its superior properties such as high melting point (2617 °C), high thermal conductivity and low thermal expansion at higher temperatures, molybdenum is a refractory metal and is used for making critical parts in defense, space, electronics and nuclear industries. High cost of molybdenum makes the selection of suitable cutting conditions imperative in machining operations in order to obtain the required surface quality and dimensional accuracy. In this study, suit- able cutting tools and cutting parameters were aimed to be determined in terms of cutting forces (F c ) and average surface roughness (R a ) when shoulder milling commercially pure molybdenum. The milling tests were carried out at 0.05, 0.1, 0.15, 0.2 mm/tooth feed rates and 75, 100, 125, 150 m/min cutting speeds using four different cutting tools. The Taguchi’s experimental design (L16 orthogonal array) technique was implemented. Analysis of variance was used to determine the effects of cutting tools and cutting parameters on R a and F c . The results showed that the feed rate is the most influential parameter for F c while the cutting speed is for R a . Keywords Pure molybdenum  ANOVA  Surface roughness  Cutting forces List of symbols a p Radial depth of cut (mm) a e Axial depth of cut (mm)  A 0 Optimum S/N ratio for A (cutting tool) (dB)  B 0 Optimum S/N ratio for B (feed rate) (dB)  C 0 Optimum S/N ratio for C (cutting speed) (dB) CI Confidence interval f Feed rate (mm/tooth) F c Main cutting force (N) N Total number of tests g G S/N ratio calculated at optimum level (dB)  g G S/N averages of control factors (dB) n eff Confirmatory test number R a Average surface roughness (lm) S/N Signal/noise ratio (dB) V c Cutting speed (m/min) V e Error variance 1 Introduction Molybdenum is a refractory metal and is capable of enduring high temperatures [1]. Therefore, it has the potential for high temperature service [2]. In addition, it is also characterized by high modulus of elasticity, good resistance to thermal shock, good electrical and thermal conductivity and low thermal expansion coefficient [3–5]. Molybdenum is used in applications such as casting die inserts, electronic components, heating elements and heat shields and parts for rockets and jet engines [3, 6]. Molybdenum and its alloys find more applications than any other refractory metal because of their exceptional prop- erties that no other material could provide. In most of these applications, their elevated temperature strength becomes Technical Editor: Ma´rcio Bacci da Silva. & I ˙ brahim C¸ iftc¸i iciftci@karatekin.edu.tr Hu¨seyin Go¨kc¸e huseyingokce@karatekin.edu.tr Halil Demir hdemir@karabuk.edu.tr 1 Vocational College, Cankiri Karatekin University, Merkez, Cankiri, Turkey 2 Engineering Faculty, Cankiri Karatekin University, Uluyazi, Cankiri, Turkey 3 Technology Faculty, Karabuk University, Baliklar Kayasi, Karabuk, Turkey 123 Journal of the Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering (2018)40:360 https://doi.org/10.1007/s40430-018-1280-8