PREDICTING SURFACE ROUGHNESS IN THE MILLING OF BIOCOMPATIBLE ALLOY TI–6AL–4V

Mechanical engineering plays an essential role in the development of medical devices, implants, prostheses, and medical equipment, with precise machining of bio-compatible materials being of considerable importance. Among the various traditional and modern machining methods, milling stands out as a widely employed technique. This study is dedicated to optimizing milling parameters to achieve a minimal average surface roughness (Ra) during the milling of the biocompatible alloy Ti-6Al-4V. This paper presents the optimization of machining parameters: cutting speed, feed rate and depth of cut. Each parameter is explored at three distinct levels, resulting in the initial design of 27 experimental runs. The paper further demonstrates how an extensive set of experiments can be streamlined to a more manageable 9 runs through the application of the Taguchi methodology. This paper points out the significant impact that varying levels can exert on the obtained results, highlighting the importance of a comprehensive and systematic approach to experimentation and optimization.