www.tjprc.org SCOPUS Indexed Journal editor@tjprc.org OPTIMIZATION OF PROCESS PARAMETERS FOR POCKET MILLING OF AL7075 USING RESPONSE SURFACE METHODOLOGY M. RAJYALAKSHMI 1* & Dr. P. SURESH BABU 2 1 Department of Mechanical Engineering, PVP Siddhartha Institute of Technology, Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, India 2 Department of Mechanical Engineering, AAR Mahaveer Engineering College, Hyderabad, Telangana, India ABSTRACT Nowadays, the high quality of surface finish is in demandto meet the market requirements. Manufacturing industry has many complex processes that vary in nature. The current paper describes the development of a model for pocket milling on Al7075 using Response Surface Methodology (RSM). This model gives mathematical relationships in terms of Cutting speed, Feed and Step Over for Follow periphery and Zigzag tool path strategies. The Surface Roughness (SR) is predicted with these relationships and compared with the measured surface roughness of the machined components. The error observed is less than 5% between predicted and measured values. KEYWORDS: Pocket Milling, Aluminium, RSM, Tool Path Strategy & Optimization Received: May 13, 2019; Accepted: Jun05, 2019; Published: Jul 06, 2019; Paper Id.: IJMPERDAUG201965 INTRODUCTION Surface integrity is one of the most influencing factors to accept the quality of a product in many manufacturing components. In modern manufacturing world with computer numerical control machines, achieving surface quality is not a much difficult task. But with trial and error methods, much of the valuable production time and material are wasted. To overcome this problem, optimization of machining parameters is necessary. Even though, there are several factors that affect the surface finish of a product, Speed, Feed, and Depth of cut are found to be the most influencing factors on surface roughness. Alauddin et al. [1] have developed a surface roughness model for milling 190BHN steel with Response Surface Methodology. In their study, the feed was found to be the most dominating factor for surface roughness. Proper selection of cutter path strategies in pocket milling saves machining time and cost. It also helps in improving surface quality [2]. In pocket milling, step over and tool path strategy also play important roles in obtaining the required surface finish [3]. Aluminium and its alloys are the commonly used materials in many fields of engineering. Their properties such as light weight, ease of machinability, corrosion resistance etc., make them qualify for diversified applications. In molding industry, surface finish is considered as one of the important parameters for manufacturing plastic components [4]. G1-continuous spiral path is employed by Held and Spielbergr[5], by using “POWERAPX” Package for the generation of tool path in 2D pocket milling. Michel Bouard etal. [6] explained a new method for tool path computation. In the current study, uniform cubic B-spline curves are applied to model surface roughness with an optimization algorithm. Ali et al. [10] experimented on hardened material AISI H13 tool steel to predict surface machined quality. Response Surface Methodology (RSM) Model was used to design the prediction model with parameters generated using Central Composite Face (CCF) methods. Evolutionary algorithms also applied to optimize the cutting conditions for better surface finish [6-8]. Effect of tool path strategies and pocket geometry on Original Article International Journal of Mechanical and Production Engineering Research and Development IJMPERD) ISSN (P): 2249-6890; ISSN (E): 2249-8001 Vol. 9, Issue 4, Aug 2019, 649-658 © TJPRC Pvt. Ltd.