Analysis of 3D surface roughness in trochoidal milling of AA 6082 aluminium alloy

This research examines the effect of trochoidal milling strategy parameters, namely cutting speed (Vc), feed per tooth (fz) and trochoidal step (Ptr) on arithmetical mean height (Sa), maximum height (Sz) and the functional volume parameters, namely peak material volume (Vmp) and core material volume (Vmc). As a working material for trochoidal milling, the AA 6082 aluminium alloy was selected. By assigning three levels for machining parameters, an L9 Taguchi orthogonal array was adopted to design and conduct the experiments. The effects of trochoidal milling parameters on the responses were examined through analysis of variance (ANOVA), contour plots and 3D topographic analysis maps. Reliable regression models were generated to correlate the independent variables with the surface quality responses. The results revealed that significant differences are indicated regarding the hierarchy effect of trochoidal milling parameters on surface and functional volume indicators. For arithmetic mean height Sa, feed per tooth is the dominant parameter, followed by trochoidal step and cutting speed. Maximum height Sz exhibits a different hierarchy in terms of the main effects of cutting parameters. Cutting speed has the most significant effect followed by feed per tooth and trochoidal step. The dominant parameter for peak material volume Vmp is feed per tooth, followed by trochoidal step and cutting speed. In the case of core material volume Vmc, the feed per tooth is the most significant milling parameter, followed by the effects of trochoidal step and cutting speed.