A

SEMINAR REPORT
ON

OPTIMIZATION OF SURFACE ROUGHNESS IN TURNING

OPERATION OF BRASS TUBE USING TAGUCHI
METHOD.
Submitted in partial fulfillment of award of degree of
Master of Technology
In
Machine Design

Department of Mechanical Engineering

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
It is my profound privilege to express my deep sense of regard, sincere regard &
indebtness to Prof. --------, Professor Mechanical engineering department
----------------------- for his expert guidance, valuable suggestion, critical views & constant
encouragement throughout the course of this project work.
In the preparation of this project a number of books, paper & journals have been freely
used, for which I want to express thanks & obligation to the authors.
I take this opportunity to thank my friends, colleagues for their useful suggestion & moral
support.

DECLARATION
I hereby declare that the work that has been presented in this report entitled
Optimization of surface roughness in turning operation of brass tube using taguchi
method in partial fulfillment of requirement of award of degree of Master of
Technology submitted in Department of Mechanical Engineering, BBSBEC, Fatehgarh
sahib is an authentic record of my own work under supervision of Prof. Lakhvir Singh
of department of Mechanical Engineering, BBSBEC, Fatehgarh sahib.
The matter embodied in this report has not been submitted by me for award of any other
degree/diploma.

Dated

CONTENTS

Acknowledgement

Declaration

Content

Abstract

1. Introduction
1.1 Background
1.2 Turning
1.3 Taguchi Method
1.4 Taguchi Method- Basic steps involved
1.5 Loss function & single to noise ratio.
1.6 Objective of study
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Review of literature
Experimental setup
Experimental design
Experimental procedure
Result & Analysis
Confirmation run
Conclusion & Discussion
Scope for future work
Reference

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ABSTRACT
In a developed economy, the market for any product is generally highly competitive. To
be successful in such a condition, producer has to do output which has distinctive
advantage over other. From example innovative design & ideas, extremely good quality
related to aesthetic & functional aspects etc. Surface roughness is a good tool for
competition. It is necessary for the customers goal that all these properties have to be

built in the product through system approach & that is the main objective of total quality
control.
For achieving good surface finish, we use optimum combination of speed of rotation, feed
& depth of cut. To do so, we use orthogonal array (OA), signal to noise ratio & ANOVA.
The objective is to establish a correlation between cutting velocity, feed & depth of cut
with surface roughness. Research has been done to determine the level of these factors
which ensure a good surface finish.

1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background
A typical turning operation produces parts, which critical features requiring a specified
surface roughness. Applications include: Bearing surface on axle, Bearing& axle, Ultra
clean surface in contaminant sensitive component & sealing surfaces on Bores & piston.
With this much reliance placed on turning operations, lathe operations are expected to
make use of their experience as well as Machining guidelines to achieve specified surface
roughness values with few or no rejects, in a timely manner to keep with production
schedule. Major factors influencing surface roughness such as spindle speed, feed rate, to
improve the surface roughness & depth of cut are investigated & optimum conditions
were obtained using taguchi method.

1.2 Turning

Turning is very important machining process in which a single point cutting tool removes
material from the surface of rotating cylindrical work piece. The cutting tool is fed
linearly in a direction parallel to axis of rotation. Turning is carried out on a lathe that
provides the power to turn the work piece at a given rotational speed & to feed the cutting
tool at a specified rate & depth of cut (Haig, 1978 & VNE Corporation, 1999). Since
turning operations are accomplished using a cutting tool, the high forces & temperature
during machining create a very harsh environment for cutting tool. Therefore, surface
roughness is an important index to evaluate cutting performance. Basically surface
roughness correlated strongly with cutting parameters such as cutting speed, feed & depth
of cut so a proper selection of cutting parameters can secure better surface roughness.
Hence design optimization of cutting parameters based on taguchi method is adopted to
improve the surface roughness in turning operation.

1.3 Taguchi Method

Dr. Taguchi of Nippon telephone & telegraph company Japan has developed a method on
Orthogonal Array experiments which give much reduced variation for the experiment
with optimum setting of control parameters. Thus the marriage of Design of
Experiment with Optimization of Control Parameters to obtain the best results is
achieved in Taguchi method. Orthogonal Array(OA) provide a set of well
balanced(minimum ) experiments & Dr. Taguchis signal to noise ratio (S/N) which are
logarithmic function of desired output, serve as objective function for optimization, help
in data analysis & prediction of optimum results.
Taguchi Method treats optimization problem in two categories.
(a) Static problem
Generally a process to be optimized has several control factors which directly decide the
target or desired value of output. The optimization involves determining the best control
factor levels so that the output is at target value.
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Such a problem is called Static Problem.

This is best explained using a P-diagram which is shown below (P stands for process or
product). Noise is shown to be present in the process but should have no effect on the
output. The primary aim of Taguchi experiments is to minimize variations in the process
even though noise is present in the process. The process is then said to be Robust.
(b) Dynamic problem
If the to be optimized, has a signal input that directly decides the output, the optimization
involves determining the best control factor so that input/output relationship is closest to
the desired relationship. Such a problem is called Dynamic Problem
This is best explained by P-diagram which is shown below. Again the primary aim of
taguchi experiment is to minimize variation even though noise is present in the process &
this is achieved by getting improved linearity in the input/out relationship.
(A) Static problem
There are three signals to noise ratio of common interest for optimization of Static
problem:
(1) Smaller the better
N = -10 log10 (mean of sum of square of measured data)
This is usually chosen S/N ratio for all undesirable characteristics like defects etc. for
which the ideal value is zero. Also when the ideal value is finite, & its maximum or
minimum value is defined

(like maximum purity is 100% or T c is 92K or minimum

time for making a telephone connection is 1 second). Then the difference between
measured data & ideal value is expected to be as small as possible. The generic form of
S/N ratio then becomes
N = -10log10(mean of sum of square of difference between measured & ideal data).
(2) Larger the better
N = -10log10(mean of sun of square of reciprocal of measured data). This case has been
converted to Smaller the better by taking the reciprocals of measured data & then taking
the S/N ratio as in the Smaller the better case.
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(3) Nominal the best

N = 10log10(square of mean/variance)

1.4 Taguchis method Basic steps involved

Step 1: State the problem to be solved. A clear understanding of the problem by those
involved with the experiment is necessary to be able to structure the experiments. The
problem statement should be specific & if multiple responses are involved, that should be
noted.
Step 2: Determine the objective of experiment. This includes the identification of
performance characteristic & level of performance read.
Step 3: Determine the measurement method(s). An understanding of how the performance
characteristic(s) will be accessed after the experiment has been conducted.
Step 4: Identify the factor which is supposed to influence the performance characteristic.
Step 5: Separate the factors into signal & noise.

Step 6: Determine the number of levels & values of all the factors. For initial screening
experiments, the number of levels should be kept as low as possible.
Step 7: Select the design of experiment.
Step 8: Conduct the experiment. Randomization strategies should be considered during
the experiment.
Step 9: Do analysis of result.
Step 10: Interpret the results. Determine which factors are influential & which are not
influential to the performance characteristic of interest.
Step 11: Select the optimum levels of most influential control factors & predict expected
results.
Step 12: Run a confirmatory experiment. This is to demonstrate which factors & levels
chosen for influential factors do provide the expected results. If the results do not turn out
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to be as per expectation then some important factors may turn out to be left out of
experiment & more screening has to be done.
Step 13: Return to Step 4, if objective of experiment is not met & further optimization is
possible with confirmed factors.

1.5 Loss Function & Signal to Noise Ratio.

Loss Function

The heart of Taguchi Method is his definition of nebulous & elusive term Quality. It is
the quality that avoids the loss to society from the time the product is shipped. Loss is
measured in terms of monetary units & is related to quantifiable product characteristics.
Taguchi defines quality in terms in terms of loss incurred by society & is
measured by loss function. He unites the financial loss with functional specification
through a quadratic relationship that comes from a Taylor series expansion. This takes the
form of parabola. Taguchi defines the loss function as quality proportional to deviation
from nominal quality characteristic. He has found the following quadratic form of
practical use:
L(Y) = k(Y M)2
Where L = loss in monetary units
M = value at which the characteristics should be set i.e. Target value.
Y = actual value of characteristic.
K = constant depending upon the magnitude of the characteristic & the
monetary involved.
The Loss function represented in this equation is graphically shown in figure. The
characteristic of Loss function is:
1. The farther the product characteristic deviates from target value, the greater is the loss. So
the loss must be zero when the product characteristic meets the target.

2. The loss is a continuous functioning & not a sudden step in the case of traditional
approach. The consequence of a traditional loss function illustrates the point that merely
making a product with in the specification limit does not necessarily mean that the
product is of good quality.

Signal to Noise (S/N) ratio

The loss function discussed above is an effective figure of merit for making engineering
design decisions. However to establish an appropriate loss function, figure of merit is not
always cost effective & easy. Recognizing the dilemma, Taguchi created a transform for
loss function which is named as Signal to noise (S/N) ratio.
The S/N ratio as stated earlier, is a concurrent static. A concurrent static is able to look at
two characteristic of a distribution & roll these characteristic into single number of figure
of merit. The S/n ratio combines both parameters into a single metric.
A high value of S/N implies that the signal is much higher than the random effect of noise
factors.
Process operation consistent with the highest S/N ratio, always means optimum quality
with minimum variation.
1.6 Objective of study

The purpose of this study is to effectively determine the optimal turning parameter for the
surface roughness of Brass bar stock under the varying conditions using Taguchi
parameter design method. The questions which the questions which this project will
include are
1. What are the relationship between control parameter& response parameter?
2. What is the effect of noise parameter on response parameter?
3. What are the optimal turning operation parameters for surface roughness?

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The objective of the study is to find optimum combination of parameter cutting speed,
feed & depth of cut which will result in optimum values of roughness parameter R a & Rt.
Taguchi method will be used to address the issues & questions being studied. The
procedure will include studying three parameters with three level of each parameter. So a
total of 27 experiments will be conducted.

2. Review of Literature
Turning operation produces parts which have critical features requiring specified surface
roughness. Lot of research has been done so as to find the optimal conditions which affect
the surface roughness.
Davim (2001) studied the optimal cutting conditions for the surface
finish obtained in turning using design of experiment. The objective of study was to
establish a correlation between cutting velocity, feed & depth of cut with surface
roughness evaluating parameter Ra & Rt.
Thomas et al. (1995) did an experimental study on analysis of surface
roughness & tool vibration data generated by lathe dry turning of mild steel samples at
different levels of cutting speed, feed, depth of cut with tool nose radius, tool length &
work piece length. He used full factorial experimental design (288 experiments)
Vernon studied the influence of cutting conditions, cutting velocity, feed, cutting time on
the turning operation of metal matrix composite. He used Taguchi method & ANOVA to
do the analysis. The objective of the study was to establish correlation between cutting
velocity, feed,& cutting time with tool wear & the power required to perform the
machining operation & the surface roughness in work piece.
Yang & Tsang (1998) investigated the cutting characteristics of S45C
steel bars using carbide cutting tools using Orthogonal Array, signal to Noise (S/N) ratio
& ANOVA.
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3.Experimental set up
Experiments will be carried out as per experimental design determined by applying
Taguchi method using MINITAB soft ware. This method is a systematic application of
designing & analysis of experiments. Through this experiment, the parameter affecting
experiments can be investigated as controlling & non-controlling (noise factor). Secondly,
this method can be used to investigate the parameter of more than two levels.
The use of parameter design in the Taguchi method to optimize the process with
multiple performance characteristics include following steps:
1. To identify the performance characteristic & select process parameter to be
evaluated.
2. To determine the number of parameter levels for the process & possible

interaction

between process parameter.

3. To select the appropriate orthogonal array (OA) & assignment of process parameter
4.
5.
6.
7.

OA.
To conduct the experiment based on the arrangement of OA.
To calculate performance characteristic & ANOVA.
To select the optimum levels of process parameter.
To verify optimal process through the confirmation experiment as suggested by
& Ozel (2003).

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to

Vernon

4.Experimental design
This experiment will make use of Taguchi method in order to address the issues &
questions being studied. The standardized Taguchi based experimental design used in this
study was an L9 (33) orthogonal array as shown. The basic design uses up to three control
factor, each with levels. A total of 27 runs must be carried out using combination of levels
for each control factor (A through C) as indicated. The addition of noise factors is
optional & requires each run to be conducted once for the noise factor. The selected
parameters discussed in introduction are given in table along with their application codes
& values for use in Taguchi model. The control factors & noise factors are independent
variable & response factor is dependent variable. The control factors are the basic
controlled parameters used in turning operation. The feed rate & depth of cut were
selected from within the range of parameters for finish turning (Harig 1978). The spindle
speed slightly lower than those normally used for turning Brass Workpieces were chosen
for safety reasons due to nature of machine being used.

Run

Control factors & levels

A

13

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

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The Basic Taguchi L9 (33) Orthogonal array

Table:
Item

Specification

Lathe

Precision Lathe Machine

Surface roughness measurement

Mitutoyo SJ-400 surftest

device
Cutting tool

Carbide tool

Surface table

Polished granite surface

V-Block

Sufficient to hold 1.25 in. dia. X 3 in.

long bar

V-Block lamp

Clamps Workpieces to V-block

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List of hardware
Table:

Parameter/Control

Code

Level 1

Level 2

Level 3

800

1000

1250

Feed Rate (mm)

40

100

250

Depth of Cut (mm)

0.1

0.2

0.3

Tool No.

factor
Spindle Speed
(rpm)

Parameter codes & Level Values used for orthogonal array

Table:

5. Experimental Procedure

This experiment was conducted using hardware listed in table. The listed items were
chosen based on both necessarily for study as well as availability. The work piece samples
were randomly selected 3 inch length cut from brass pipe described in previous section.
The precision lathe was set up with the tool holder. All variable parameter were run in
accordance with selected parameter & orthogonal array. Table shows the set up sheet, the
individual sample number & their parameter listed in order according to orthogonal array
run. The surface roughness measurement process included the use of Mitutoyo SJ-400
Surftest as well as all necessary hardware to align stylus motion perpendicular to the axis
of the turned part during the measurement. Blocks were also used to align Mitutoyo SJ400 Surftest vertically with the top surface of the Workpieces, in accordance with the
manufacturers specification. The maximum surface roughness measurement of each cut
was recorded for analysis. The maximum Ra was chosen, because it was possible that
control & noise factor combinations will produce variance in surface quality across the
cut & using maximum Ra will allow any sporadic occurrences of high surface roughness
to affect study. This was done with goal of selecting parameters that would stand out
more as producing an optimal surface finish across the entire cut.

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Run

Spindle

Feed

Depth

Noise

speed

rate

of cut

800

40

0.1

N1

1000

40

0.1

N1

1250

40

0.1

N1

800

100

0.1

N1

1000

100

0.1

N1

1250

100

0.1

N1

800

250

0.1

N1

1000

250

0.1

N1

1250

250

0.1

N1

10

800

40

0.2

N1

10

11

1000

40

0.2

N1

11

12

1250

40

0.2

N1

12

13

800

100

0.2

N1

13

14

1000

100

0.2

N1

14

15

1250

100

0.2

N1

15

16

800

250

0.2

N1

16

17

1000

250

0.2

N1

17

18

1250

250

0.2

N1

18

19

800

40

0.3

N1

19

20

1000

40

0.3

N1

20

21

1250

40

0.3

N1

21

22

800

100

0.3

N1

22

23

1000

100

0.3

N1

23

24

1250

100

0.3

N1

24

25

800

250

0.3

N1

25

26

1000

250

0.3

N1

26

27

1250

250

0.3

N1

27

Sample
ID #

Experimental set up sheet

Table:
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Tool #

6. Result & Analysis

Completion & analysis of orthogonal array, the results of the surface roughness
measurement of each sample are shown in table along with additional parameters of the
expanded orthogonal array. The individual surface roughness measurements are noted as
N1 for each run in the array.

Inner Control Array

Outer Noise Array

Run

2.23

2.85

2.02

2.96

2.77

2.78

6.24

5.48

6.23

10

2.12

11

1.61

12

1.74

13

2.54

14

2.90

15

2.92

16

6.32

17

6.29

18

6.18

19

2.00

20

2.35

21

2.39

22

2.54

17

N1

23

2.91

24

2.59

25

6.31

26

5.00

27

6.01

Complete Orthogonal Array

Table:
A T-test for noise factor was performed in order to determine the effect of noise factor.
The results of this test, as shown in Table, resulted in a very high p-value, stating that a
statistically significant difference could not be detected. This would seem to indicate that
while the noise factors could possibly have an effect on surface roughness, this effect
could be negligible & can only be completely determined with more experimental
research. This is beyond this type of study here, in which Noise factor is included for sole
purpose of determining a combination of control factors that results in a response variable
which is the most immune to Noise factor, Roy et al (2001)
The Ra (mean response variable) effect table, under the array indicates the mean
of response variable for each level of each control factor. This specifies the mean surface
roughness value that each level of each control factor produced, during the experiment.
The S/N effect Table under the array, indicates the mean of S/N value for each level of
each control factor. Since we are looking for mean of surface roughness values to be as
small as possible, the ideal S/N effect should be as large possible. This has been depicted
as well.
The analysis of variance (ANOVA) will be conducted to study the
influence of spindle speed, feed rate & depth of cut on surface roughness & to test the
statistical significance of the differences between the means for surface roughness for
different levels of spindle speed, feed rate & depth of cut. The surface roughness was
significantly influenced by feed rate with means being... , & respectively for the
feed rate of 40mm/min, 100 mm/min & 250mm/min respectively. However the surface
roughness was not significantly influenced by spindle speed & depth of cut.

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7.Confirmation run
While the relative values of each of this parameter are consistent with the literature
review, one can see that the combination of selected control parameter value was not
actually carried out in an experiment. Since the Taguchi method selected only a small
number of combinations of control variable (rather than all combinations as per DOE)
this situation was expected. Due to this situation, a confirmation was necessary in order to
validate the results. The objective of the confirmation run was to determine that the
selected control parameter values would produce better surface finish than those produced
in the first part of the experiment. To create this comparison, the researchers compared
the surface roughness mean of k products produced using the selected control parameter
values to the surface roughness mean of the products produced in the first part of the
experiment. The surface roughness was then measured using the setup described earlier.
The response variable used in the confirmation run was the mean Ra, in. u in. of
measurements taken across the length of the cut as recommended by Babus Haq et al.
(1990)

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8.Conclusion & Discussion

This study presented an effective method for determining the optimal turning operation
parameters for the surface finish under varying conditions through the use of Taguchi
parameter design process. The process was applied using a specific set of control & Noise
parameter & a responsive variable of surface roughness. The use of L 9 (33) orthogonal
array with three control parameter allowed this study to be conducted with 27
Workpieces.
The study found that the control factors have varying effect on the response variable, with
the feed rate having the highest effect. The Noise factors, on the other hand were found to
have a statistically noticeable effect. The study led to the selection of combination of level
of each control parameter. The measurement of Workpieces in the confirmation run led to
the conclusion that the selected parameter values from the process produced a surface
roughness that was much lower than the other combinations tested in the study. The use
of Taguchi parameter design technique was considered useful as an effective method to
optimize the surface roughness in turning operation.

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9.Scope of future work

1. Tool radius can be added as another parameter to study the surface roughness.
2. Cutting time can be added as parameter to study the effect on surface roughness.
3. Analysis can be done by varying the temperature of the room in which machining is done
& it be taken as Noise factor.
4. Interaction among the main factors can be studied.

10.

References

1. Yang WH, Tsang YS (1998) Design optimization of cutting parameters for turning
operations based on taguchi method. Journal of material process technology. 84:122129

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2. Roy RK (2001) Design of experiments using Taguchi approach: 16 steps to product

& process improvement. Wiley, New York.
3. Davim JP (2001) A note on the determination of optimal cutting conditions on the
surface finish obtained in turning using design of experiments. Journal of material
process technology. 116 (2/3): 305-308.
4. Thomas M, Beauchamp Y, Youssef AY, Masounave J 1995) Effect of tool vibrations
on surface roughness during lathe dry turning process, Compt. Ind. Engg. 31 (3/4):
637-644
5. Vernon A Ozel T (2003) Factors affecting surface roughness in finish hard turning,
Proceedings of 17th international conference on production research (ICPR-17),
Black burg Virginia, August 2003.
6. Fowlkes WY, Creveling CM (1995) Engineering methods for robust product design
using taguchi methods in technology & product development, Addison Wesley,
Redding, Massachusetts.
7. Harig H (1978) Basic precision machining for metal working trainees, national
tooling & machining association, Washington DC.
8. Babus Haq RF, Probert D, Snaith B, Callaghan PW, George HE (1990) Perceived &
real roughness variations across machined surfaces, international journal of material
& production technology. 5(1) : 12-24

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