S. BAYRAKTAR, Y. TURGUT: INVESTIGATION OF THE CUTTING FORCES AND SURFACE ROUGHNESS ...
591–600
INVESTIGATION OF THE CUTTING FORCES AND SURFACE
ROUGHNESS IN MILLING CARBON-FIBER-REINFORCED
POLYMER COMPOSITE MATERIAL
PREISKAVA SIL REZANJA IN HRAPAVOSTI POVR[INE PRI
REZKANJU KOMPOZITNEGA POLIMERNEGA MATERIALA,
OJA^ANEGA Z OGLJIKOVIMI VLAKNI
Senol Bayraktar1, Yakup Turgut2
1Recep Tayyip Erdogan University, 53100 Rize, Turkey
2Gazi University, Faculty of Technology, Manufacturing Engineering, 06500 Teknikokullar, Ankara, Turkey
senol.bayraktar@erdogan.edu.tr, senolbyrktr@gmail.com
Prejem rokopisa – received: 2015-07-03; sprejem za objavo – accepted for publication: 2015-07-27
doi:10.17222/mit.2015.199
In this study, milling of a carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer composite material (CFRP) was investigated experimentally using
various carbide end mills. The input parameters included the spindle speed, feed rate and cutting tool, whereas the output
parameters were defined as the cutting force and surface roughness. The experimental design was based on the Taguchi L18
(61×32) orthogonal array. In the tests, six different carbide end mills with a 10 mm diameter were used: an uncoated two-flute
30° helix-angled one; carbide-coated two-, three- and four-flute 30° helix-angled ones; and TiAl-coated three- and four-flute 45°
helix-angled ones. The cutting parameters included three different feed rates (0.03, 0.06, 0.09) mm/tooth and three different
spindle speeds (3800, 4800, 5800) min–1. The Taguchi method was applied to select the most appropriate cutting parameters
(cutting force, feed rate) for the tests. With the analysis of variance (ANOVA), the feed-rate factor was found to be the most
effective one among these parameters (cutting forces and surface roughness). The results of the experiments showed that the
uncoated carbide end mill had a better performance in terms of the cutting forces and surface roughness. Besides, it was also
seen that the surface roughness increases with the increasing number of flutes and helix angle.
Keywords: CFRP, cutting forces, surface roughness, Taguchi method, ANOVA
V {tudiji je bil eksperimentalno prou~evano rezkanje polimernega kompozitnega materiala, oja~anega z ogljikovimi vlakni
(CFRP) z uporabo rezkarjev z razli~nim karbidnimi nanosi. Vhodni parametri so vklju~evali hitrost vrtenja vretena, hitrost
podajanja in rezalno orodje, medtem ko sta bila izhodna parametra sila rezanja in hrapavost povr{ine. Zasnova eksperimenta je
temeljila na Taguchi L18 (61×32) ortogonalni matriki. Pri preskusih je bilo uporabljenih {est razli~nih cilindri~nih rezkarjev s
premerom 10 mm, dvorezni s kotom spirale 30° brez nanosa, dvo, tri in {tirirezni s kotom spirale 30° prekriti s karbidi ter tri- in
{tirirezni rezkar s kotom spirale 45° in nanosom TiAl. Uporabljeni parametri rezanja so vklju~evali tri razli~ne hitrosti podajanja
(0.03, 0.06, 0.09) mm/zob in tri razli~ne hitrosti vrtenja vretena (3800, 4800, 5800) min–1. Za izbiro najprimernej{ih
uporabljenih parametrov (sila rezanja, hitrost podajanja), je bila uporabljena Taguchi metoda. Med uporabljenimi parametri (sila
rezanja in hrapavost povr{ine) se je pokazalo, s pomo~jo analize variance (ANOVA), da je hitrost podajanja najbolj vpliven
faktor. Rezultati preskusov so pokazali, da ima rezkar brez nanosa karbida, bolj{e zmogljivosti glede na sile rezanja in hrapavost
povr{ine. Poleg tega se je pokazalo, da hrapavost povr{ine nara{~a z ve~anjem {tevila utorov in kota vija~nice.
Klju~ne besede: CFRP, sile rezanja, hrapavost povr{ine, Taguchi metoda, ANOVA
1 INTRODUCTION
In the aviation and automotive industry, processing of
composite materials constitutes the great majority of the
machining operations. On the composite materials, ma-
chining operations such as milling, drilling, edge cutting,
turning and grinding are practiced. In these applications,
some undesired situations such as tool wear, delamina-
tion and fiber rupture are encountered due to non-uni-
form structures of composite structures. The reasons for
these situations are unsuitable cutting parameters and
cutting conditions.1
Milling is a widely used process in the machining of
CFRP materials. A composite material, which is taken
out of the mold, cannot be used directly. Certain remo-
vals from the material surface must be made with respect
to the previously specified dimensions and tolerances.
The milling process, which provides a surface of desired
quality, plays a significant role in the shaping of the
CFRP materials. Besides, the surface roughness also
plays an effective role in the optimization of cutting
parameters and tool geometries because of its significant
effect on the dimension accuracy and production costs.2,3
The surface roughness is one of the most important
factors in machining, influencing the manufacturing
performance. The realization of the desired function of
machine parts (in contact with each other) achieved by
spending minimum energy depends on the surface
roughness.4 In order to achieve the desired quality of a
machined surface, it is necessary to understand the me-
chanisms of material removal and the kinetics of machin-
ing processes affecting the performance of cutting
tools.5,6
Materiali in tehnologije / Materials and technology 50 (2016) 4, 591–600 591
UDK 620.1:67.017:678.7 ISSN 1580-2949
Original scientific article/Izvirni znanstveni ~lanek MTAEC9, 50(4)591(2016)
Previous researchers investigated the effect of the
rotational speed and feed rate on the cutting forces in the
milling of a polymer carbon-fiber composite material,
using time series and the empirical relationship for the
amplitude of the cutting force (Fx) to find the highest
coefficient of delamination (R2).7 However, if all three
components of the total forces (Fx, Fy, Fz in the x, y, z
directions, respectively) had been taken into account, the
coefficient of delamination could have been calculated
more precisely. The obtained vibration graphs were
examined according to the test results and it was found
that there was a decrease in the cutting forces with an
increase in the number of revolutions, while the cutting
forces increased as the feed-rate values increased. They
evaluated the surface roughness and delamination in the
milling of a 55 % fibered and 0°/90° angled carbon-
fiber-reinforced composite material, using the Taguchi
method, ANOVA and multiple regression analysis with
respect to the cutting speed and feed-rate parameters.
After the measurement of the maximum width of
damage (Wmax) caused by the material, the damage
normally assigned to the delamination factor (Fd) was
determined. This factor is defined as the ratio between
the maximum width of damage (Wmax) and the width of
cut (W). The delamination-factor value was calculated
with Equation (1):
F
W
Wd
= max (1)
In their work, it was observed that the surface
roughness and delamination factor increased depending
on the increased feed rate and cutting speed.5 They also
investigated the effects of the cutting-tool helix angle,
the coating process and the cutting force on the delami-
nation factor and surface roughness in their experimental
study. An experimental study on the optimum machining
of fiber-reinforced composite materials was made. It was
specified that a higher cutting speed and a lower feed
rate had to be used at a constant depth of cut in order to
decrease delamination and the fiber amount and fiber
angles of the material were also important to obtain the
optimum results. They concluded that the upper and
lower layers of fiber-reinforced composite materials have
the biggest influence on the surface quality when cutting
these materials.8 Thus, the milling of these materials
requires a very sharp cutting edge, which is particularly
necessary for solid carbide millig cutters. They investi-
gated the cutting forces, created in the helical and ortho-
gonal machining of multi-directional (60°/0°/120°) and
unidirectional (60°) CFRP material, using the artificial-
neural-network (ANN) method. In their work, it was
emphasized that mechanistic modeling approaches are
valid for machining FRPs and predictive capabilities of
cutting forces can calculated for a rotating helical milling
tool and for any fiber orientation using ANNs.1 They
also used different numbers of flutes/edges or helix-
angled cutting tools and different fiber orientations for
modelling approaches.
The effect of different cutting parameters (cutting
speed, feed rate and tool geometry) on the surface rough-
ness in the machining of glass-fiber-reinforced polymer
composite material was investigated. In all of the cutting
tests, depending on the increase in the feed rate, an
increase in the surface roughness was observed and the
best surface quality was obtained with a four-flute car-
bide end mill at the highest cutting speed and the lowest
feed rate. Moreover, according to their study it is evident
that the surface roughness increased with the increasing
number of flutes.9 However, the surface roughness must
increase with the increasing number of flutes due to the
contact unit time. Thus, this situation can bring about an
increase in the temperature in the cutting zone. ANOVA
was used to identify significant factors using the grey
relational grade value. According to the ANOVA results,
it is clear that the fiber orientation angle (51.00 per cent)
has the main influence on the milling of GFRP compo-
sites, followed by the helix angle (19.54 per cent), the
feed rate (14.37 per cent) and the spindle speed (1.56 per
cent).10 They also pointed out different optimization
approaches and multiple regression analysis in their
study. In this way, they were able to reveal more realistic
results.
In another study, the hole delamination created
during the drilling of FRP plates was shows, using a
digital-analysis-based approach. Since a digital image is
considered as the matrix where columns and rows
identify one point of the image, the value corresponds to
the luminous intensity of this point. The image process-
ing produces satisfactory results, allowing an observation
and analysis of the details from the digitalized image.
Thus, in their work, the digital image of the damage area
is used to characterize its extension at the hole entrance
and exit. As a result, a comparison of the created dela-
mination factors was made using the digital-analysis
approach according to the cutting speed and feed rate in
the tests. An increase in the delamination factor was
found to depend on the increase in the cutting speed and
feed rate.11
This digital-analysis-based approach can also be
applied to the milling of FRP materials using different
cutting parameters and tool geometries. The researchers
developed a delamination-prediction model using a
multilayer feed-forward ANN and a training EBPT
algorithm. They claimed that the developed ANN model
showed a good correlation for both the training and
testing data sets and that the delamination decreased with
an increase in the number of revolutions, while it in-
creased when a drill of a bigger tip angle was used.12
Moreover, they also stated that at higher feed-rate values
the drill could not function properly due to the coherence
on the tool edges, causing an increase in the delamina-
tion. They developed a mathematical analysis method for
the analysis of delamination in drilling FRPs. The dela-
mination was measured using the ultrasonic C-scan
method. They claimed that as the tool wear increased,
the feed-rate factor increased. Furthermore, the feed-rate
S. BAYRAKTAR, Y. TURGUT: INVESTIGATION OF THE CUTTING FORCES AND SURFACE ROUGHNESS ...
592 Materiali in tehnologije / Materials and technology 50 (2016) 4, 591–600
factor decreased with a decrease in the number of revolu-
tions and increased with an increase in the feed-rate
values.13 In another study, chip-formation mechanisms
were used, the Taylor tool-wear constants were deter-
mined and the surface roughness was measured with
respect to the cutting speeds and feed rates. Moreover,
the authors observed an increase in the tool wear and
surface roughness due to the increase in the cutting speed
and fiber angle, depending on the constant feed rate in
turning.14 They investigated the effect of the fiber
orientation on the grindability of CFRPs. They claimed
that the surface roughness increased with the increase in
the fiber angle and chip formation. The grinding forces
and surface integrity were also found to depend on the
fiber orientations in the grinding of an FRP.15
In this study, the effects of cutting parameters and
cutting-tool properties (coated or uncoated, the helix
angle, the number of flutes) on the cutting force and
surface roughness were experimentally investigated for
the 45° orientation angle in the milling of CFRP. Be-
sides, the experimental results were optimized using the
Taguchi method and the most effective cutting para-
meters (cutting speed and feed rate) for the cutting force
and surface roughness were determined through a
variance analysis (ANOVA).
2 EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE
2.1 Materials and method
In the milling of a CFRP material, six different car-
bide end mills with a 10 mm diameter were used: an
uncoated two-flute 30° helix-angled mill; two-, three-
and four-flute 30° helix-angled mills; and TiAl-coated,
three- and four-flute 45° helix-angled carbide end mills.
For the tests, coated carbide end mills of the GC1630
quality, PVD-coated with TiAl, with a coating thickness
of 3–5 μ and made of fine-particle cemented carbide
were used. The technical properties of the end mills used
in the tests are given in Table 1.
The tests were made at three different revolutions:
3800, 4800, 5800 min–1 and three different feed rates:
0.03, 0.06, 0.09 mm/tooth, and at a 1 mm depth of cut
(Table 2).
Table 2: Cutting parameters
Tabela 2: Parametri rezanja
Spindle speed
(min–1)
Feed rate
(mm/tooth)
Depth of cut
(mm)
3800, 4800, 5800 0.03, 0.06, 0.09 1
A CFRP composite material (polymer matrixed) was
used in the tests. In accordance with ASTM D 792, the
density test result as well as the mechanical, thermal and
electrical properties of the CFRP material are given in
Table 3.
Table 3: Physical properties of the material used in the tests according
to ASTM D 792
Tabela 3: Fizikalne lastnosti materiala uporabljenega pri preskusih po
ASTM D 792
M
at
er
ia
l
D
en
si
ty
(g
r/
cm
3 )
P
er
ce
nt
ag
e
by
w
ei
gh
t
of
fi
be
r
T
he
rm
al
co
nd
uc
-
tiv
it
y
(W
/M
k)
F
ib
er
di
am
et
er
(μ
m
)
E
le
ct
ri
ca
l
co
nd
uc
-
tiv
it
y
(μ
-
-m
)
Te
ns
il
e
m
od
ul
us
(G
Pa
)
Te
ns
il
e
st
re
ng
th
(G
Pa
)
CFRP 1.59 74.6% 5 7 18 231 3.75
In Figure 1, the fiber orientation angles of the mate-
rial used in the tests are given. The lay-up sequence of
the CFRP was [0°/45°/90°/45°/–45°/90°/45°/0°]; it was
created as a laminate. The CFRP composite used for the
milling studies had a thickness of 15 mm.
The cutting tests were carried out on a Johnford
VMC-850 CNC vertical machining center. In order to
obtain the optimum results the Taguchi orthogonal array
was used for specifying suitable factors and levels from
the cutting parameters.
S. BAYRAKTAR, Y. TURGUT: INVESTIGATION OF THE CUTTING FORCES AND SURFACE ROUGHNESS ...
Materiali in tehnologije / Materials and technology 50 (2016) 4, 591–600 593
Table 1: Coated and uncoated carbide end mills used in the tests
Tabela 1: Karbidni rezkarji, z nanosom in brez nanosa, uporabljeni pri preskusih
Cutting tool
Cutting-tool
manufacturer
code
Taguchi
cutting-tool
code
Diameter
(mm)
Number of
flutes
Helix
angle
Helix
length
(mm)
Cutting-
tool length
(mm)
Cutting-tool view
TiAl-coated
carbide
R216.32-10030-
AC19P (b) 10 2 30° 19 72
Uncoated
carbide
R216.32-10030-
AC19A (a) 10 2 30° 19 72
TiAl-coated
carbide
R216.33-10030-
AC19P (e) 10 3 30° 19 72
TiAl-coated
carbide
R216.33-10045-
AC19P (f) 10 3 45° 19 72
TiAl-coated
carbide
R216.34-10030-
AC22N (d) 10 4 30° 22 72
TiAl-coated
carbide
R216.34-10045-
AC22N (c) 10 4 45° 22 72
After each machining operation, surface-roughness
(Ra) measurements were made using a surface-roughness
measurement device called Mahr Perthometer M1. At
least three points were measured to obtain the surface-
roughness values. Cutting forces were measured with a
KISTLER 9257B type dynamometer and a KISTLER
5070A type amplifier. The cutting-force values measured
with the dynamometer were transferred to the computer
digitally and graphically using the Dynoware software.
The cutting and feed-rate direction used in the tests are
given in Figure 2 and a schematic representation of the
experimental set-up is given in Figure 3.
The orientation of the resultant force with respect to
the cutting direction is defined with Equation (2):
 e
t
c
=
⎛
⎝
⎜
⎞
⎠
⎟−tan 1
F
F
(2)
The resultant orientation signifies the magnitudes of
Fc and Ft, being relative to each other. The thrust force is
greater than the principal force (the cutting force) for
fiber orientation angles larger than 45°. Contrary to the
cutting-force behavior in metal cutting, the thrust force is
found to be higher than the corresponding principal force
for fiber orientations (0° <   75°), except for the data
taken from some investigations.16,17 In general, the thrust
force exhibited a more complex behavior than the prin-
cipal force. An increase in the thrust force is exhibited
when cutting small positive fiber orientations; then the
thrust force decreases with further increase in the fiber
orientation.
The chip-formation mode in cutting positive fiber
orientations (0° <  < 90°) was described previously as
the fiber-cutting mode, which consists of fiber cutting by
compression shear followed by chip flow upward on the
rake face by interlaminar shear along the fiber-matrix
interface. It was noted that this type of chip formation is
similar (only in the appearance because of the absence of
plastic deformation) to the chip formation by shear in
metal cutting. In these cases, the principal (cutting) force
Fc and the thrust force Ft can be resolved into a shear
force, Fs, acting along the shear plane, and a normal
force, Fn, acting on the shear plane as shown in Figure 4
and with Equations (3) and (4), respectively. It is noted
here that the shear plane cutting FRPs is generally found
to coincide with the plane of the fibers for fiber orien-
tations (0° <  < 90°):
F F Fs c t= −cos sin  (3)
F F Fn c t= −sin cos  (4)
S. BAYRAKTAR, Y. TURGUT: INVESTIGATION OF THE CUTTING FORCES AND SURFACE ROUGHNESS ...
594 Materiali in tehnologije / Materials and technology 50 (2016) 4, 591–600
Figure 1: Scanning-electron-microscope (SEM) images of the materials used in the tests
Slika 1: Pregled materialov uporabljenih pri preskusih (SEM)
Figure 3: Experimental set-up for the milling test
Slika 3: Eksperimentalni sestav pri preskusu rezkanja
Figure 2: 45° fiber orientation and rotation direction of the cutting
tool: a) isometric, b) top view
Slika 2: 45° orientacija vlaken in smer rotacije rezilnega orodja:
a) izometri~no. b) pogled z vrha
It is also shown in Figure 4 that the resultant force,
R, makes an angle e to the fiber orientation. The beha-
vior of angle e and normal force Fn with the fiber
orientation may be linked to the chip-formation mode.4
2.2 Experimental design
The Taguchi experimental design was used in order
to determine the control parameters that affect the
cutting force and surface roughness and to minimize the
time and costs with the minimum number of tests. An
orthogonal array for three factors at six levels was used
for describing of experimental design (Table 4).
Table 4: Assignment of the levels to the factors
Tabela 4: Opis nivojev in faktorjev
Symbol Factors
Level
1 2 3 4 5 6
A Cutting tool(carbide end mill) a b c d e f
B Spindle speed(min–1) 3800 4800 5800 - - -
C Feed rate(mm/tooth) 0.03 0.06 0.09 - - -
The L18 (61×32) array mixed type shown in Table 5
was determined with eighteen rows corresponding to the
numbers of the tests and three columns at six levels. The
factors and the interactions are designated to the co-
lumns.
The experimental design is made up of eighteen tests
where the first column was designated to the test num-
ber, the second column to the carbide end mills
(a,b,c,d,e,f), the third column to the spindle speed
(rev/min) and the fourth column to the feed rate
(mm/tooth).
An analysis of variance of the data realting to the
cutting force, Fc (N) and surface roughness Ra (μm) for
the CFRP material was made with the aim of analyzing
the influence of the cutting tool (a carbide end mill),
spindle speed (min–1) and feed rate (mm/tooth) on the
total variance of the results.
Table 5: Orthogonal array L18 (61×32)
Tabela 5: Ortogonalna matrika L18 (61×32)
L18
(61×32) test
Cutting tools
(Carbide end
mills)
Spindle speed
(min–1)
Feed rate
(mm/tooth)
1 a 3800 0.03
2 a 4800 0.06
3 a 5800 0.09
4 b 3800 0.03
5 b 4800 0.06
6 b 5800 0.09
7 c 3800 0.06
8 c 4800 0.09
9 c 5800 0.03
10 d 3800 0.09
11 d 4800 0.03
12 d 5800 0.06
13 e 3800 0.06
14 e 4800 0.09
15 e 5800 0.03
16 f 3800 0.09
17 f 4800 0.03
18 f 5800 0.06
3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The milling tests were conducted to evaluate the
effect of the cutting parameters and cutting-tool proper-
ties (the helix angle, TiAl-coated or uncoated) on the
cutting force and surface roughness for the 45° fiber
orientation angle. The cutting forces were determined
with Equations (3) and (4). The value of the feed rate
(mm/min) was calculated with Equation (5):
f f znz= (5)
where fz is the feed per tooth, z is the number of flutes
and n is the number of revolutions. The value of the sur-
face roughness (μm) was calculated with Equation (6)
where f is the amount of feed in mm/min, r is the cutt-
ing-tool radius in mm and Ra is the average surface
roughness (μm):18
R
f
ra
=
2
32
(6)
In this study, the Taguchi experimental design makes
it possible to isolate the effects of individual machining
parameters at different levels using either the average
values of experimental outputs or their corresponding
S/N ratios. Herein, analyses of the effects of the ma-
chining parameters were performed on the basis of the
S/N ratios of the machinability outputs using response
graphs and an analysis of variance (ANOVA). ANOVA
was performed to determine the relative influence of the
experimental parameters on each of the machinability
outputs. This can be accomplished by calculating the
variability of the computed S/N ratio for each parameter
and the associated error.
S. BAYRAKTAR, Y. TURGUT: INVESTIGATION OF THE CUTTING FORCES AND SURFACE ROUGHNESS ...
Materiali in tehnologije / Materials and technology 50 (2016) 4, 591–600 595
Figure 4: Cutting-force components along and perpendicular to the
plane of fibers
Slika 4: Komponente sile rezanja vzdol` in pravokotno na ravnino
vlaken
In the Taguchi experimental design for a variable
product or process and uncontrollable factors, the most
suitable combinations of controllable-factor levels are
selected and the variability of the product or process is
optimized for a certain purpose as the smaller-the-better
(SB), the nominal-the-best (NB) and the higher-the-
better (HB).19 The results obtained with the cutting tests
are given in Table 6. The test results, obtained with the
Taguchi experimental design were evaluated by convert-
ing them into the signal/noise (S/N) ratio. S/N values
were calculated with the smaller-the-better Equation (7)
because the stresses due to the parameters affecting the
cutting force and surface roughness were desired at the
lowest level. Here, Y is the performance-characteristic
value (the stress), n is the number of Y values. The values
with the highest S/N ratio among the levels of the factors
in the tests created the best performance. Besides, the
degrees of importance of the factors were investigated
statistically on the test results with the variance analysis
(ANOVA) and the best combination was determined with
his study.20
Smaller-the-better:
S
N n
yi
i
n
SB
= −
⎛
⎝
⎜ ⎞
⎠
⎟
=
∑10 1 2
1
lg (7)
The cutting force is one of the most important output
variables, created during the process and is directly
affected by any variable. These variables, which affect
the cutting forces are feed rate, depth of cut (radial and
axial), cutting speed, tool and turning-chip geometry,
workpiece material, tool-work interface dynamic charac-
teristics, fixture system, development of the wear on the
tool cutting surfaces, temperature and vibration. The
cutting forces affecting the tool is an important data
source for the condition of the tool. This information can
be used for a better understanding of machinability, tool
fracture, tool wear and surface integrity.21,22
The cutting forces created during the milling of the
CFRP material with two-flute, 30° helix-angled TiAl-
coated and uncoated carbide end mills are shown in
Figure 5.
In Figure 5, an increase in the cutting forces was ob-
served for both the coated and uncoated carbide end
mills, with the increasing feed rates depending on the
constant depth of cut (ap) and the number of revolutions
(n). This can be explained with the increase in the
turning-chip volume per unit time with the increase in
the feed rate.23 In their study24, the authors explain the
S. BAYRAKTAR, Y. TURGUT: INVESTIGATION OF THE CUTTING FORCES AND SURFACE ROUGHNESS ...
596 Materiali in tehnologije / Materials and technology 50 (2016) 4, 591–600
Table 6: Taguchi experimental design
Tabela 6: Taguchi na~rt preskusa
Experiment
number A B C
Fc (N) Ra (μm)
Cutting force (N) S/N (dB) Surface roughness (μm) S/N (dB)
1 a 3800 0.03 101.8 40.1550 1.147 1.19127
2 a 4800 0.06 121.6 41.6987 1.259 2.00051
3 a 5800 0.09 129.7 42.2588 1.406 2.95971
4 b 3800 0.03 113 41.0616 1.179 1.43028
5 b 4800 0.06 132.6 42.4509 1.231 1.80516
6 b 5800 0.09 139 42.8603 1.263 2.02807
7 c 3800 0.06 98 39.8245 1.400 2.92256
l8 c 4800 0.09 117.8 41.4229 1.647 4.33387
9 c 5800 0.03 91.3 39.2094 1.078 0.65238
10 d 3800 0.09 130.8 42.3322 1.581 3.97864
11 d 4800 0.03 113.3 41.0846 1.093 0.77240
12 d 5800 0.06 133.2 42.4901 1.420 3.04577
13 e 3800 0.06 112.8 41.0462 1.191 1.51824
14 e 4800 0.09 96.2 39.6635 1.367 2.71537
15 e 5800 0.03 101.8 40.1550 1.181 1.44500
16 f 3800 0.09 115.9 41.2817 1.544 3.77295
17 f 4800 0.03 96.4 39.6815 1.173 1.38596
18 f 5800 0.06 160.8 44.1257 1.309 2.33879
Figure 5: Variation of cutting forces depending on the cutting-tool
type and feed rate
Slika 5: Spreminjanje sile rezanja v odvisnosti od vrste orodja in
hitrosti podajanja
impact of the axial and tangential feed rates per tooth on
the process forces. They also noticed an increase in the
cutting forces with the increasing feed rates. In another
study, they also described an increase in the cutting tem-
peratures with the cutting forces. As a result, undesirable
thermal stresses occurred in the cutting tool and the
workpiece. The maximum cutting temperature of 44°C
was reported for the cutting speed of 35 m/min and feed
rate of 0.178 m/min.25 It referred to a glass-fiber-rein-
forced laminate that was machined with a PCD tool. It is
seen that at low and moderate feed rates per tooth, only
slight increases in the normal force occur over a cutting-
speed range of 1200–2400 m/min. In these tests, the
cutting force increased due to the cutting-tool coating
process. The coating on the cutting tool increased the
hardness and strength of the cutting tool.26 Besides, the
cutting-tool coating caused a lower frictional coefficient
and, as a result, the cutting forces of the coated tools
were lower.27 In relation with this, the lowest cutting
force was determined for the coated tool at the lowest
feed rate (0.03 mm/tooth).26
Depending on the constant depth of cut and the num-
ber of revolutions, the surface roughness created during
the milling of the CFRP material with the two-flute
carbide end mill is given in Figure 6.
As shown in Figure 6, when the coated and uncoated
carbide end mills were compared with respect to the
surface roughness, the roughness values at the feed rates
of 0.03 and 0.06 mm/tooth came out to be very close to
each other whereas, at higher feed rates, a better surface
quality was obtained with the uncoated carbide end
mills. They also confirmed in their study that the surface
roughness decreased with an increase in the cutting
speed, but no critical speed could be identified. This
could have been due to the fact that the cutting speed
range used in these studies was below the critical cutting
speed. All of the experimental studies confirm that the
feed rate is the most influential factor in determining the
surface roughness. In these tests, the cutting-tool coating
causes a thickening in the form of a cutting edge and the
cutting tool ruptures the fibers rather than cutting them,
which causes the coating and the workpiece to chemi-
cally react. For this reason, in the tests carried out with
the coated cutting tools, the surface roughness was
higher compared to the uncoated tools.28 They also
pointed out in their study that the feed rate is the cutting
parameter which has a greater influence on the surface
roughness (33.43 per cent) when milling GFRP compo-
site materials with solid carbide coated with PCD.29
Depending on the constant depth of cut and the num-
ber of revolutions, the surface roughness created during
the milling of the CFRP material with all of the carbide
end mills is given in Figure 7.
An increase in the surface roughness with the
increase in the feed rates was observed for all the carbide
end mills (Figure 7). It was specified that this was an
expected result and was also present in the literature.
They also found that the surface roughness increases
with the increase in the feed rate. In these tests, it was
also observed that there was an increase in the surface
roughness with the increase in the number of flutes and
the helix angle.30 Depending on the increasing feed rates,
the best surface quality in all the tests was obtained with
the two-flute 30° helix-angled uncoated carbide end mill.
It was specified that the increase in the number of flutes
and helix angles adversely affected the surface quality.5
According to another study, the feed rate is also the most
significant factor affecting the surface roughness.31
Even the wear of the machining edge causes a high
increase in the cutting resistance, which, in turn, leads to
a plastic strain of the surface layers of the sample and
delamination. What may be observed here is a correla-
tion between the delamination size and the feed rate and
cutting speed. Every single growth of these quantities
translates into an increase in the cutting forces and an
increase in the surface roughness. Figure 8 shows a se-
lected microscope photograph of the milling surface (the
speed of cutting is fixed, while the feed rate is change-
able).
S. BAYRAKTAR, Y. TURGUT: INVESTIGATION OF THE CUTTING FORCES AND SURFACE ROUGHNESS ...
Materiali in tehnologije / Materials and technology 50 (2016) 4, 591–600 597
Figure 7: Feed rate/surface roughness relationship for all carbide end
mills used in the tests
Slika 7: Odvisnost hitrosti podajanja in hrapavosti povr{ine za vse
karbidne rezkarje uporabljene v preskusu
Figure 6: Variation of the surface roughness depending on the
cutting-tool type and feed rate
Slika 6: Spreminjanje hrapavosti povr{ine, v odvisnbosti od vrste
orodja za rezanje in hitrosti podajanja
3.1 Analysis of variance (ANOVA)
The experimental design and statistical analysis
(ANOVA) were made with respect to a mixed-level
design through the Minitab 15.0 software. According to
the ANOVA analysis of the cutting force (Table 7), the
feed rate had the highest effect with a 53.06 % ratio. The
effects of the cutting tool and the number of revolutions
were 22.93 % and 16.17 %, respectively. In the ANOVA
analysis of the surface roughness (Table 8), the feed rate
again had the highest effect with a 86.01 % ratio and the
effects of the cutting tool and the number of revolutions
were low.
On the basis of the test results, S/N ratios and opti-
mum parameters were estimated. In Figures 9 and 10,
the S/N ratio graphs of control factors are given depend-
ing on the cutting force and surface roughness. In Figure
9, the cutting parameters for the cutting force, obtained
through the Taguchi optimization were found to be
"A3B1C1" (four-flute and 45° helix-angled, TiAl-coated
carbide end mill, 3800 rpm and a feed rate of 0.03
mm/tooth). It was assumed that the highest S/N ratio of
each parameter indicated the optimum level of that para-
meter.19 The obtained parameters in the optimization of
the surface roughness were "A2B3C1" (two-flute 30°
helix-angled uncoated carbide end mill, 5800 rpm, 0.03
mm/tooth) as seen in Figure 10. When the optimization
process was evaluated, it was observed that although the
cutting tools with a large helix angle and many cutting
edges came out to be better with respect to the cutting
forces, the cutting tools with a small helix angle and few
S. BAYRAKTAR, Y. TURGUT: INVESTIGATION OF THE CUTTING FORCES AND SURFACE ROUGHNESS ...
598 Materiali in tehnologije / Materials and technology 50 (2016) 4, 591–600
Figure 8: Cutting and feed direction for the 45° fiber orientation
Slika 8: Smer rezanja in podajanja pri orientaciji vlaken 45°
Table 7: ANOVA results for cutting forces
Tabela 7: ANOVA rezultati sil rezanja
Cutting
parameters
Degrees of
freedom
Sequential sum
of squares
Average
correction
Means of
squares P
Percentage
contribution
A Cutting tool 5 10.87 10.87 2.174 0.086 22.93%
B Spindle speed 2 3.067 3.067 1.5337 0.189 16.17%
C Feed rate 2 10.052 10.052 5.0262 0.019 53.06%
Error 8 5.945 5.945 0.7431 7.82%
Total 17 29.934 100%
Table 8: ANOVA results for surface roughness
Tabela 8: ANOVA rezultati za hrapavost povr{ine
Cutting
parameters
Degrees of
freedom
Sequential sum
of squares
Average
correction
Means of
squares P
Percentage
contribution
A Cutting tool 5 2.2355 2.2355 0.4471 0.477 5.44%
B Spindle speed 2 0.5018 0.5018 0.2509 0.593 3.09%
C Feed rate 2 13.9017 13.9017 6.9509 0.002 86.01%
Error 8 3.5904 3.5904 0.4488 5.45%
Total 17 20.2295 100%
Figure 9: Signal/noise ratios for cutting forces
Slika 9: Razmerja signal/hrup pri silah rezanja
Figure 10: Signal/noise ratios for the surface roughness
Slika 10: Razmerja signal/hrup pri hrapavosti povr{ine
flutes gave better results from the point of the surface
roughness and delamination.
3.2 Confirmation tests
After obtaining the best estimation results for the Ta-
guchi optimization, validation tests were made to verify
the optimization. In the Taguchi experimental design, the
next step after the selection of the optimum levels of the
test parameters is the estimation of the measurement re-
sult for the optimum parameter and the determination of
the difference by comparing it with the actual measure-
ment.32,33
The determined optimum parameters of "A3B1C1"
and "A2B3C1" for the cutting force and surface roughness
and the results of the verification tests were compared
(Tables 9 and 10). There was a good consistency bet-
ween the actual and estimated values for both of the two
performance characteristics (the cutting force and the
surface roughness). As for the optimum cutting para-
meters obtained with the Taguchi application, there were
improvements of 0.8536 dB and 0.3249 dB for the cutt-
ing force and surface roughness according to the S/N
ratios in comparison with the original parameters.
Table 9: Verification test results for cutting force
Tabela 9: Rezultati preskusov preverjanja sile rezanja
Starting cutting
parameters
Optimum cutting parameters
Prediction Experiment
Level A1B2C3 A3B1C1 A3B1C1
Cutting force
(N) 101.5 83.35 92
S/N ratio (dB) –40.1293 –38.7934 –39.2757
Improvement
of S/N ratio 0.8536 dB
Prediction
error (dB) 0.4823
Table 10: Verification test results for surface roughness
Tabela 10: Rezultati preskusov preverjanja hrapavosti povr{ine
Starting
cutting
parameters
Optimum cutting
parameters
Prediction Experiment
Level A1B2C2 A2B3C1 A2B3C1
Surface roughness
(Ra, μm)
1.259 1.034 1.207
S/N ratio (dB) 2.00 –0.5015 –1.6741
Improvement of
S/N ratio 0.3249 dB
Prediction error
(dB) 1.1726
According to the data obtained from the verification
tests, a high consistency was observed between the esti-
mated and experimental values in the optimization of the
cutting force and surface roughness and the effectiveness
of the Taguchi optimization was proved with this study.
4 CONCLUSIONS
In this study, a CFRP material was milled with seve-
ral carbide end mills, and the cutting force and surface
roughness for a 45° fiber orientation angle were investi-
gated. The Taguchi optimization and ANOVA were
applied to the experimental data. The conclusions from
these processes can be listed as follows:
• For all of the carbide end mills, an increase in both
the cutting force and surface roughness was observed
depending on the increasing feed rate.
• In the tests with an uncoated carbide end mill, a
better surface quality and less delamination were ob-
tained.
• As for the cutting tools, there was an increase in the
surface roughness as the number of flutes and the
helix angle increased.
• At the end of the Taguchi optimization of the cutting
force, suitable cutting parameters for the four-flute
45° helix-angled TiAl-coated carbide end mill
(A3B1C1) were found to be 3800 min–1 and a feed rate
of 0.03 mm/tooth.
• At the end of the Taguchi optimization, suitable cutt-
ing parameters for the two-flute 30° helix-angled
uncoated carbide end mill (A2B3C1) were found to be
5800 min–1 and a feed rate of 0.03 mm/tooth.
• The lowest cutting forces were obtained for the cutt-
ing tools with the highest number of flutes and the
largest helical angles, whereas the best surface-
roughness values were obtained with the cutting tools
with a low number of flutes and acute helix angles.
• At the end of the tests, when ANOVA was applied to
the obtained data, the most effective parameter for
the cutting force and surface roughness was the feed
rate.
• The optimum parameters that were obtained as a re-
sult of the Taguchi optimization and the estimated
cutting-force and surface-roughness values were
compared by performing validation tests. This com-
parison indicated a high consistency between the
values.
Acknowledgement
This study was accomplished with the support of
Gazi University Scientific Research Project no
07/2010-18. Authors thank the Gazi University Scientific
Research Unit for their support.
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