Optimization of cutting parameters in pocket milling of tempered and cryogenically treated 5754 aluminum alloy

Abstract

Aluminum alloys are widely used today in plastic injection molds in the automotive and aerospace industries due to their high strength and weight ratio, good corrosion and fatigue resistance as well as high feed rates. The 5754 aluminum alloy has high corrosion resistance and a structure suitable for cold forming. In this study, an AA 5754-H111 tempered aluminum alloy with the dimensions of 80×80×30 mm was used, and some of the materials were cryogenically heat treated. For the milling operations, φ12 mm diameter 76 mm height uncoated as well as TiCN and TiAlN coated end mills were used. Different levels of cutting depth (1.25, 2.0, 2.5 mm), cutting speed (50, 80, 100 m/ min), feed rate (265, 425, 530 m/ min) and machining pattern (concentric, back and forth and inward helical) were used. The number of experiments was reduced from 486 to 54 using the Taguchi L54 orthogonal array. The values obtained at the end of the experiments were evaluated using the signal-to-noise ratio, ANOVA, three-dimensional graphs and the regression method. Based on the result of the verification experiments, the processing accuracy for surface roughness was improved from 3.20 μm to 0.90 μm, with performance increase of 71.88%.