Materials, Vol. 12, Pages 2590: A Study on Optimal Machining Conditions and Energy Efficiency in Plasma Assisted Machining of Ti-6Al-4V (Materials)

This research objective was to determine the significant parameters for effective plasma assisted machining (PAM) of Ti-6Al-4V and to derive optimal processing conditions. PAM parameters such as feed rate, spindle speed, and depth of cut have significant effects on its machining characteristic. In this study, the design of experiments (DOE) was used to select optimal machining conditions for PAM. The signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio was analyzed using the Taguchi method and the contributions of the factors were determined using analysis of variance (ANOVA). Finally, the optimal PAM machining conditions were selected using response optimization. In addition, the energy efficiency of conventional machining (CM) and the PAM were compared. The energy efficiency was analyzed by specific cutting energy. The cutting force and surface roughness of PAM decreased by 60.2% and 70.5%, respectively, in optimal PAM machining conditions.