Surface roughness prediction in VMC five axis machining of EN 47 steel by RSM and DFA

Milling is very often used metal removal processes for industrial applications. Vertical machining center five - axis (VMC–5-axis) is innovative metal cutting machine, used to perform milling operation which relies on rotary cutters to remove unwanted metal from a workpiece. VMC works based on the concept of vertical milling machine which employs a spindle with a vertical orientation. Because of high cost of the machining setup, machining operations in this process can be performed optimum manner to get economical advantage. Input parameters selection plays critical role in VMC-5-axis to get the machining economics. Surface roughness of any milled part is highly depending on correct selection of process parameters. In the present research, investigational based laboratory analysis has been prepared to examine the implications of milling processing condition(s) on quality measure, surface finish of EN47 steel. The experimental tests have been planned as per response surface methodology (RSM). Mathematical relations between the operating conditions and surface roughness are developed by using RSM. Three-dimensional surface plots had been developed to explore the factor effects on surface roughness. From the surface plots, it is found that process parameters are highly significant for surface quality of EN47 steel. The optimum parametric condition was obtained by desirability function approach (DFA). The factor effects on surface finish have been identified by analysis of variance. The concluding observations has been derived from proposed research investigation.