Study of Process Parameters on Cutting Forces in Meso-Scale Milling of Inconel 718 Alloy

Nickel-based alloys are widely used in the aerospace industry, nuclear reactors and the automotive industry. These alloys exhibit excellent physical and chemical properties at high temperatures. However, nickel-based alloys are difficult to machine materials with high hardness and low thermal conductivity, which results in high cutting forces during machining. Additionally, increasing demand for meso-scale components in the industry has opened a door for research in this field. This paper focuses on meso-scale milling of Inconel 718 alloy. Aiming at the problem of high cutting forces, meso-scale milling experiments of Inconel 718 alloy were conducted. Due to its high strength and work-hardening characteristics, proper tool coating and process parameters should be selected. In this work, TiAlN, TiSiN, and nACo coatings were selected. Taguchi’s L9 orthogonal array was employed for conducting experiments in a dry environment. In this paper, feed per tooth, cutting velocity, depth of cut, and tool coatings are considered as input parameters, and their effects on cutting forces are analysed through the statistical technique of analysis of variance (ANOVA) to figure out the most important process parameters.