The Grey-Based Taguchi Method: Optimisation of Drilling of Hybrid Aluminum Matrix Composites

The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of cutting parameters and effect of graphite rate on cutting force and surface roughness in drilling of Al/20%SiC/5%Gr, Al/20%SiC/7.5%Gr and Al /20%SiC/10%Gr hybrid composites, fabricated by vortex method. The drilling tests are conducted with diamond-like-carbon coated cutting tools. The Grey relational analysis based Taguchi optimization method was selected to determine the optimum cutting conditions. The results show that the spindle speed (4500 rpm), the rate of graphite (10%) and feed (0.1 mm/rev) were found to be significant parameters for surface roughness and cutting force. The predicted values from the developed model and experimental values are found to be very similar in this study.