Influence of Cutting Parameters to Surface Area Roughness in Dimple Machining Using Milling Process

Abstract

Surface quality is among the predominant criterion in measuring machining process performance, including milling. It is extremely dependent on the process variable, such as cutting parameters and cutting tool conditions. The main intention of this research work is to study the effect of the milling machining parameters, including depth of cut, spindle speed, feed rate as well as machining pattern to the final surface area roughness of the fabricated dimple structure. The concave profile of the dimple is machined at the right angle to a flat Al6061 specimen using a ball end mill attached to a 3-axis CNC milling machine, and the surface area of the concave profile is measured using 3D measuring laser microscope. It is observed that surface area roughness reacts with the spindle speed and feed rate with different tool sizes. Based on the result gained, the work has successfully characterised the influence of studied milling parameters on the dimple surface area roughness, where within the range of the studied parameter, the surface area roughness varies only less than 2.2 μm. The research work will be continued further on the incline milling technique and micro size ball end mill.