Finish turning of AISI 5140 tempered steel to improve machinability for engineering applications: An experimental approach with dry cutting

Abstract

This study explores the best finish turning conditions for AISI 5140 tempered steel which is commonly used in automotive, agriculture and construction sectors thanks to its high strength and toughness properties. The steel is proper for surface hardening which makes it a perfect option to employ in various engineering applications. However, there are a few studies about this material and no paper is seen on finish turning operation which is highly critical to prepare the parts for workspace. Therefore, this work focuses on the impacts of feed rate, cutting speed and depth of cut parameters on roughness of workpiece along with cutting force and cutting temperatures while dry cutting of AISI 5140 steel. The results of the experiments evaluated with statistical analysis and Taguchi’s optimization approach. Accordingly, cutting speed is the dominant parameter on all response parameters namely surface roughness, cutting force and temperature with 92.6%, 61.6% and 91.6% contribution rate respectively. For maximum surface quality, highest cutting depth (0.3 mm) and cutting speed (200m/min) along with lowest feed rate (0.15 mm/rev) should be employed. Such an approach is expected to be a guide for the practical applications where tempered steels are used in different engineering disciplines.