Parametric Optimization of Turning Operation using Cryogenically Treated and Un-Treated High Speed Steel Tool

High-speed steel (HSS) tools are the most commonly used tools in small and medium-scale industry. Cryogenic treatment can be used to enhance the tool life. Studies on cryogenically treated (CT) cutting tools show micro structural changes in the material that can influence the life of the tools significantly. This paper primarily reports performance of CT HSS tools as compared to untreated (UT) HSS tools. The results show that CT HSS tools exhibit better performance based on power consumed by lathe machine in turning operation using CT HSS and UT HSS tools. The microstructure has been found more refined and uniformly distributed after cryogenic treatment of HSS tool. Taguchi L25 orthogonal array was considered for conducting the experimentation and Analysis of variance (ANOVA) used for data analysis. Three parameters such as cutting speed, feed rate and depth of cut at different levels were considered in the study. Optimum machining parameters in both the cases (CT HSS and UT HSS tools) are higher cutting speed (75.7 m/min.), higher feed rate (0.35 mm/rev.) and medium depth of cut (0.40 to 0.45 mm). ANOVA results shows that in case of CT HSS tool, feed rate is the most significant parameter followed by cutting speed and in case of UT HSS tool, cutting speed is the most significant parameter followed by the feed rate. It has been observed based on the comparison of total power consumed by the lathe machine that performance of CT HSS tools is better than that of UT HSS tools.