Prediction of Surface Roughness of Mild Steel Alloy in CNC Milling Process Using ANN and GA Technique

Abstract

In this paper, Analysis Of Variance (ANOVA), Artificial Neural Network (ANN), and Genetic Algorithm (GA) have been studied to predict the effect of milling parameters on the Surface Roughness (Ra) during machining of mild steel alloy. The milling experiments carried out based on the Taguchi design of experiments method using (L16) orthogonal array with 3 factors and 4 levels. The influence of three independent variables such as spindle speed (910, 930, 960, and 1000 rpm), feed rate (93, 95, 98, and 102 mm/min), and Tool Diameter (8, 10, 12, and 14 mm) on the Surface Roughness (Ra) were tested and analyzed with (ANOVA) to predict the response which indicates that spindle speed was the most significant factor effecting on Surface Roughness (Ra). Artificial Neural Network (ANN) and numerical methods are used widely for modeling and predict the performance of manufacturing technologies. Neural Network technique with 2 hidden layers, 10 neurons size, 1000 epochs, and Trainlm transfer function is used to predict the result. The Genetic Algorithm (GA) has been utilized to find optimal cutting conditions during a milling process. From the results, the optimal value of spindle speed is (930 rpm), feed-rate is (95 mm/min) and tool diameter is (8 mm). This network structure is capable of predicting the Surface Roughness (Ra) well to optimize the milling parameters. Artificial Neural Network (ANN) predicted results indicate good agreement between the experimental and the predicted values.