Hindawi Publishing Corporation

Advances in Mechanical Engineering

Article ID 721093

Research Article
Optimization of Cutter Geometric Parameters in End Milling of
Titanium Alloy Using the Grey-Taguchi Method

Junxue Ren,1,2 Jinhua Zhou,1 and Jianwei Wei3

1
School of Mechanical Engineering, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an 710072, China
2
The Key Laboratory of Contemporary Design and Integrated Manufacturing Technology, Ministry of Education,
Northwestern Polytechnical University, P.O. Box 552, Xi’an 710072, China
3
China Gas Turbine Establishment, Chengdu 621703, China

Correspondence should be addressed to Junxue Ren; rjx1968@nwpu.edu.cn

Received 30 June 2014; Accepted 8 October 2014

Academic Editor: Hyung Hee Cho

Copyright © Junxue Ren et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which
permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Further progress in control of manufacturing process and performance depends on the innovativeness of machine tools after
cutting parameter optimization. This paper presents a multiobjective optimization of cutter geometric parameters in end milling
of Ti-5Al-5Mo-5V-1Cr-1Fe titanium alloy via Taguchi method in integration with grey relational analysis. Sixteen experiments are
conducted by the Taguchi method and analyzed based on the signal-to-noise ratio. Then, the multiple objectives optimization
is successfully converted to a single objective optimization of the grey relational grade by the grey relational analysis. The cutter
geometric parameters, namely, fluting rake angle, gash angle, helix angle, gash rake angle, and pitch angle difference, are optimized
to minimize cutting force, surface roughness, and the acceleration. According to the results of Analysis of variance, the order
of importance for the control factors to the multiperformance characteristics, in sequence, is helix angle, gash angle, gash rake
angle, pitch angle difference, and fluting rake angle. Experimental results indicate that the multiperformance characteristics can be
improved effectively with the grey-Taguchi method.

1. Introduction
Ti-5Al-5Mo-5V-1Cr-1Fe titanium alloy is considered as a
kind of hard-to-cut material and has very poor machinabil-
ity. However, it offers high strength and wide processing
window compared to traditional hard steels and plays an
extremely important role in gas turbines, aircraft, marine,
rocket engines, and other high temperature applications.
Therefore, recent design considerations in aerospace and
aviation industry rejuvenate the interest for Ti-5Al-5Mo-
5V-1Cr-1Fe titanium alloy as large-size and load-bearing
components.
Many researches focused on cutting parameters to
improve the machining quality for turning, milling, drilling,
grinding, and other machining operations. Pawade and
Joshi [1] obtained better high-speed turning performance of
Inconel 718 in terms of cutting forces and surface roughness
by optimizing the cutting parameters. Shi et al. [2] recently
employed the grey-Taguchi relational analysis to accom-
plish the multiobjective optimization of surface integrity
for milling TB6. Lebaal et al. [3] obtained the optimal
cutting parameters that improve the surface roughness with
maximizing the volume of material removal and cutting tool
life. Prasanna et al. [4] optimized the thrust force, overcut,
circularity, and taper by controlling the drilling parameters
for small hole dry drilling of Ti-6Al-4V. Thepsonthi and
Özel [5] identified optimum process parameters for microend
milling of Ti-6Al-4V titanium alloy, which minimized the
surface roughness and burr formation.
These literature surveys in traditional machining focus on
the machining parameters optimization and provide practical
approach to obtain the optimal parameters. However, the
effect of cutter geometric parameters on quality character-
istics of machining was not given enough attention by the
previous researchers.
Some investigations indicate that cutter structures have
significant influence on the machining process and quality
characteristics. Different combinations of cutter geomet-
ric parameters might produce large variations in the final

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2 Advances in Mechanical Engineering
product quality. For instance, a variable pitch or helix milling
tool can be used to reduce the cutting force and improve
the machined surface quality by suppressing the machining
chatter [6–12]. Zain et al. [13] applied the genetic algorithm
and regression model to find the optimal solution of the
cutting conditions (radial rake angle, cutting speed, and feed
rate) that yield the minimum value surface roughness. Wang
et al. [14] built an analysis model of parameters affecting
performance in high-speed milling of AISI H13 tool steel con-
sidering cutter geometric parameters and cutting parameters.
Their experimental results indicated that the contributions
of tool grinding precision, geometric angle, and cutting
conditions to the multiple performance characteristics are
11.8%, 9.8%, and 73.1%, respectively. Arunachalam et al. [15]
studied the effect of insert shape, cutting edge preparation,
type, and nose radius on both residual stresses and surface
finish. They suggested that coated carbide cutting tool inserts
of round shape, chamfered cutting edge preparation, negative
type and small nose radius (0.8 mm), and coolant would
generate primarily compressive residual stress.
From the above analyses, it can be seen that cutter
geometric parameters have some influences on the machin-
ing process and performance. Therefore, the current study
attempts to determine the influence weight of these factors on
multiple performance characteristics. Furthermore, the effect
of the pitch angle difference of end mill on the stability of
machining process is especially considered.
Considering the structure complexity and variety of end
mill, a current technique challenge is to design the various
cutter geometric parameters that yield optimum multiple
performance characteristics, which is a multiobjective opti-
mization problem. Taguchi method integrated with grey
relational analysis (GRA) is an effective approach to solve the
multiobjective optimization problem. Grey-Taguchi method
has been widely applied in recent years for optimal process
parameter design of multiple performance characteristics
[16–24]. In the traditional machining, Kopac and Krajnik [25]
applied grey-Taguchi to the robust design of flank milling
parameters dealing with the optimization of the cutting loads,
milled surface roughness, and the material removal rate
in the machining of an Al-alloy casting plate for injection
moulds. Tsao [26] adopted grey-Taguchi method to optimize
the milling parameters on A6061P-T651 aluminum alloy
with multiple performance characteristics. Haq et al. [27]
optimized drilling parameters with the considerations of
multiresponses for drilling Al/SiC metal matrix composite
with the GRA in the Taguchi method. Köklü [28] completed
the optimization of the continuous and interrupted cylin-
drical grinding of AISI 4140 steel considering the effect of
workpiece speed, depth of cut, and the number of slot on
the multiple performance characteristics using grey-based
Taguchi method.
By looking at previous studies, as far as they have
been reviewed, it seems that the application of grey-Taguchi
optimization techniques for optimizing the cutter geometric
parameters in end milling is still not given consideration
by researchers. Therefore, the current research focuses on
the structure design of end mill for end milling of Ti-5Al-
5Mo-5V-1Cr-1Fe titanium alloy and introduces the GRA to
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search the optimal cutter geometric parameters. The design
factors are selected as fluting rake angle, gash angle, helix
angle, gash rake angle, and pitch angle difference while the
multiple performance characteristics are evaluated by cutting
force, surface roughness, and the acceleration. Additionally,
the correlations between the factors and their influences on
performance are studied using the grey-Taguchi method.
Then, the influence of the design factors on multiple perfor-
mance characteristics are analyzed using analysis of variance
(ANOVA). Finally, a validation experiment is conducted to
verify the effectiveness of this approach.
2. Analysis Methods
2.1. Taguchi Method. Generally, traditional experimental
design methods require a dense mass of sample points when
the number of process parameters increases. In order to
reduce the number of trials, Taguchi method is employed to
seek the optimal combination of cutter geometric parameters
in end milling of Ti-5Al-5Mo-5V-1Cr-1Fe titanium alloy.
Taguchi method is a simple and effective solution for
parameter design and experiment planning [29]. In this
method, Taguchi recommended analyzing the performance
of process response using signal-to-noise (𝑆/𝑁) ratio, in
which the largest value of 𝑆/𝑁 is required. There are three
types of 𝑆/𝑁 ratio—the larger-the-better model, the smaller-
the-better model, and the nominal-the-better [30].
(1) The Larger-the-Better Model (LBM). Maximum response
characteristic means that the target extreme value is infinity.
The 𝑆/𝑁 ratio is as follows:
1 𝑛
𝑆/𝑁 = 10 lg ( ∑𝑦𝑖 2 ) , (1)
𝑛 𝑖=1
where 𝑦𝑖 is the 𝑖th test and 𝑛 is the total number of tests.
(2) The Smaller-the-Better Model (SBM). Minimum response
characteristic means that the target extreme value will be
zero. The 𝑆/𝑁 ratio with a smaller-the-better characteristic
is defined as follows:
1 𝑛 2
𝑆/𝑁 = −10 lg [ ∑ (𝑦𝑖 ) ] . (2)
𝑛 𝑖=1
(3) The Nominal-the-Best Model (NBM). Targeted response
characteristic means that the response result is the target
value. The 𝑆/𝑁 ratio can be expressed as follows:
𝑢2
𝑆/𝑁 = 10 lg [ ], (3)
𝜎2
where
1 𝑛
𝑢= ∑𝑦 ,
𝑛 𝑖=1 𝑖
(4)
1 𝑛 2
𝜎2 = ∑ (𝑦 − 𝑢) .
𝑛 − 1 𝑖=1 𝑖
Advances in Mechanical Engineering
2.2. Grey Relational Analysis. Analysis of 𝑆/𝑁 ratios is
available for single performance characteristic, but ineffective
for multiresponse characteristics. It often exists in multiob-
jective optimization problem that the higher 𝑆/𝑁 ratio for
one performance characteristic may correspond to a lower
𝑆/𝑁 ratio for another. So, it is essential to evaluate overall
𝑆/𝑁 ratios in multiobjective optimization problem. In this
study, the multiple performance characteristics are evaluated
using the GRA, which converts a multiple response process
optimization into a single objective optimization of the grey
relational grade (GRG).
In the GRA, the quality characteristics are first nor-
malized, ranging from zero to one. This experiment data
process is called grey relational generation. The second step
is to calculate the grey relational coefficient (GRC) based
on the normalized experimental data, which represents the
correlation between the desired data sequence and the actual
experimental data sequence. Finally, the GRG sequence can
be obtained by taking the weighted average of the GRC
sequence. The multiple performance characteristics are eval-
uated by the GRG.
(1) Grey Relational Generation. If the purpose is the larger-
the-better, then the normalized results can be expressed as
𝑥𝑖(0) (𝑘) − min {𝑥𝑖(0) (𝑘)}
𝑥𝑖∗ (𝑘) = ,
max {𝑥𝑖(0) (𝑘)} − min {𝑥𝑖(0) (𝑘)} (5)
𝑖 = 1 ∼ 𝑚, 𝑘 = 1 ∼ 𝑛,
where 𝑥𝑖∗ (𝑘)
is the normalized value of the 𝑘th performance
characteristic in the 𝑖th experiment, while 𝑥𝑖(0) (𝑘) is the
original result of the 𝑘th performance characteristic in the 𝑖th
experiment, m is the total number of test, and 𝑛 is equal to the
number of performance characteristics.
If the target value of the original sequence is the smaller-
the-better performance characteristic, then the original
sequence is normalized as follows:
max {𝑥𝑖(0) (𝑘)} − 𝑥𝑖(0) (𝑘)
𝑥𝑖∗ (𝑘) = , edge. To reduce the influence of tool wear, a fresh cutter is
max {𝑥𝑖(0) (𝑘)} − min {𝑥𝑖(0) (𝑘)} (6)
𝑖 = 1 ∼ 𝑚, 𝑘 = 1 ∼ 𝑛.
(2) Grey Relational Coefficient. A higher value of the GRC,
ranging from zero to one, corresponds to intense relational
degree between the desired performance characteristics and
the actual performance characteristics. The GRC is defined as
follows:
𝛾 (𝑥0∗ (𝑘) , 𝑥𝑖∗ (𝑘))
min∀𝑖 min∀𝑘 Δ 0𝑖 (𝑘) + 𝜁max∀𝑖 max∀𝑘 Δ 0𝑖 (𝑘)
= , (7)
Δ 0𝑖 (𝑘) + 𝜁max∀𝑖 max∀𝑘 Δ 0𝑖 (𝑘)
𝑖 = 1 ∼ 𝑚, 𝑘 = 1 ∼ 𝑛,
where
󵄨 󵄨
Δ 0𝑖 (𝑘) = 󵄨󵄨󵄨𝑥𝑖∗ (𝑘) − 𝑥0∗ (𝑘)󵄨󵄨󵄨 , (8)
0 < 𝛾 (𝑥0∗ (𝑘) , 𝑥𝑖∗ (𝑘)) < 1, (9)
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3
Table 1: Design factors and their levels.
Experimental control factors
Levels
𝐴, ∘ 𝐵, ∘ 𝐶, ∘ 𝐷, ∘ 𝐸, ∘
1 4 25 30 2 0
2 6 30 35 4 3
3 8 35 40 6 5
4 10 40 45 8 7
where 𝑥0∗ (𝑘) is reference sequence, 𝑥𝑖∗ (𝑘) is comparability
sequence, Δ 0𝑖 (𝑘) is the deviation sequence of 𝑥𝑖∗ (𝑘) and 𝑥0∗ (𝑘),
and 𝜁 is a distinguishing coefficient between zero and one.
(3) Grey Relational Grade. A higher GRG presents that the
corresponding performance characteristics are closer to the
ideal normalized value. The GRG can be calculated as follows:
1 𝑛
𝛾 (𝑥0∗ , 𝑥𝑖∗ ) = ∑ 𝛾 (𝑥0∗ (𝑘) , 𝑥𝑖∗ (𝑘)) , 𝑘 = 1 ∼ 𝑛, (10)
𝑛 𝑘=1
where 𝑥0∗ is reference sequence vector, while 𝑥𝑖∗ is compara-
bility sequence vector.
Here, the GRG 𝛾(𝑥0∗ , 𝑥𝑖∗ ) ∈ [0, 1] represents the level
of correlation between the reference sequence vector and
comparability sequence vector.
The flow diagram of cutter geometric parameters using
the Taguchi method in integration with the GRA is illustrated
in Figure 1.
3. Experiment Procedures
A set of end milling experiments are conducted in a three-
coordinate vertical CNC machining center-VMC850 with
maximum spindle speed of 8000 rpm, maximum feed rate
of 12 m/min, and spindle power of 10 hp. The workpiece
material used in all experiments is Ti-5Al-5Mo-5V-1Cr-1Fe
titanium alloy. The cutters are four flutes flat-end mills with
the carbide body K40, diameter of 12 mm, and uncoated
used in each experiment. The overhang length of end mill is
fixed as 32 mm in each experiment. The milling parameter
in each experiment is fixed at the level with spindle speed
𝑛 = 4000 r/min, axial milling depth 𝑎𝑝 = 0.3 mm, radial
milling depth 𝑎𝑒 = 4 mm, and feed rate𝑓𝑧 = 0.02 mm/z.
This study discusses the relationship between cutter
geometric parameters and the performance characteristics
for end milling of Ti-5Al-5Mo-5V-1Cr-1Fe titanium alloy
in order to obtain optimal combination of the parameters.
First, the objective performance characteristics are focused
on three aspects: cutting force, surface roughness, and the
acceleration. Next, five cutter geometric parameters (fluting
rake angle, gash angle, helix angle, gash rake angle, and
pitch angle difference, denoted as 𝐴, 𝐵, 𝐶, 𝐷, and 𝐸, resp.)
are selected as control factors with four levels, denoted as
1, 2, 3, and 4, as shown in Table 1. An end mill with pitch
angle difference of 3∘ corresponds to the fact that the four
pitch angle is 87∘ , 93∘ , 87∘ , and 93∘ , respectively. These
cutter geometrical parameters are illustrated in Figure 2.
4 Advances in Mechanical Engineering

Selection of cutter geometric parameters Taguchi orthogonal experiment array

and their levels

Conduct of experiments to obtain the

multiresponses
Single objective optimization

Data analysis by S/N

Multiple objective optimization

Normalization of the original

multiresponse sequence
ANOVA and determination of
significant parameters
Calculation of GRC

Confirmation test Calculation of GRG and

determination of optimal parameters

Figure 1: Flowchart of grey-Taguchi method.

Table 2: Taguchi L16(45 ) orthogonal array. The average lateral cutting force and axial cutting force
are measured with a Kistler dynamometer (Model 9255B),
Experiment number 𝐴 𝐵 𝐶 𝐷 𝐸 respectively. Then the resultant cutting force is calculated as
1 1 1 1 1 1 the results to evaluate the cutting force by the Pythagorean
2 1 2 2 2 2 Theorem. The expressed surface roughness in this paper is the
3 1 3 3 3 3 arithmetic mean deviation of the surface roughness profile
4 1 4 4 4 4 Ra. The surface roughness of machined surfaces is measured
5 2 1 2 3 4 in feed direction by surface roughness tester TR240, made
6 2 2 1 4 3 by Bei Jing Time Technologies Co. Ltd. An average value
of five measurements of surface roughness is taken to use
7 2 3 4 1 2
in the multicriteria optimization. As shown in Figure 3,
8 2 4 3 2 1
the acceleration sensor is cemented on the machine tool
9 3 1 3 4 2 spindle head. The vibrations are monitored using a Kistler
10 3 2 4 3 1 piezoelectric Accelerometer (Model 3055B2) and the average
11 3 3 1 2 4 values of the amplitude in a stable data stage are taken as the
12 3 4 2 1 3 results.
13 4 1 4 2 3
14 4 2 3 1 4
4. Experimental Results and Discussion
15 4 3 2 4 1
16 4 4 1 3 2 4.1. Analysis of Signal-to-Noise (𝑆/𝑁) Ratio. Table 3 presents
the experimental results of cutting force, surface roughness,
and the acceleration. Apparently, smaller values of these
The selection of levels of design parameters is based on the responses are desirable. Thus, the data sequences have a
experience of engineers and previous experimental study. In smaller-the-better characteristic and the SB model (equation
general, the rake angle is no more than 10∘ in machining (2)) is employed to calculate the 𝑆/𝑁 ratio. The results of
process. According to previous experimental investigation, a 𝑆/𝑁 ratio are illustrated in Table 3. The 𝑆/𝑁 ratios of cutting
pitch angle difference between 0∘ and 7∘ may be beneficial force, surface roughness, and the acceleration can be used for
to suppressing the machining chatter in end milling the performance analysis and a higher 𝑆/𝑁 ratio value represents
titanium alloy. Larger gash angle leads to lower rigidity of that the response value is closer to the expected performance
cutting edge while an end mill with smaller gash angle is characteristic. According to this criterion, it is obviously
bad for separation of chip. Helix angle ranging from 30∘ to observed that experiment number 7 has the maximum of
45∘ is often used for milling titanium alloy. Then, a Taguchi 𝑆/𝑁 ratio for cutting force, which means the optimum
orthogonal array L16(45 ) is employed to reduce the number combination of cutter geometric parameters is 𝐴 2 𝐵3 𝐶4 𝐷1 𝐸2
of experiments, as shown in Table 2. All experiments are among the experiment arrays. Similarly, surface roughness
performed in down milling using emulsified liquid. Figure 3 has a higher 𝑆/𝑁 ratio in experiment number 7 than that in
presents the process of end milling. the others. Therefore, the design factors 𝐴 2 𝐵3 𝐶4 𝐷1 𝐸2 should

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Advances in Mechanical Engineering 5

Table 3: Experimental results and their 𝑆/𝑁 ratio.

CF SR AC
Experiment number
Results (N) 𝑆/𝑁 (dB) Ra (𝜇m) 𝑆/𝑁 (dB) Results (g) 𝑆/𝑁 (dB)
1 40.36 −32.119 0.248 12.111 0.675 3.414
2 36.28 −31.193 0.311 10.145 0.491 6.178
3 32.57 −30.256 0.268 11.437 0.579 4.746
4 33.04 −30.381 0.272 11.309 0.829 1.629
5 44.27 −32.922 0.240 12.396 0.922 0.705
6 40.82 −32.217 0.228 12.841 0.580 4.731
7 32.37 −30.203 0.186 14.610 0.506 5.910
8 34.21 −30.683 0.271 11.341 0.524 5.613
9 40.09 −32.061 0.357 8.947 0.758 2.407
10 38.51 −31.711 0.208 13.639 0.603 4.394
11 41.03 −32.262 0.195 14.199 0.664 3.561
12 34.35 −30.719 0.249 12.076 0.478 6.411
13 38.45 −31.698 0.239 12.432 0.322 9.843
14 42.32 −32.531 0.240 12.396 0.593 4.539
15 37.43 −31.464 0.237 12.505 0.939 0.547
16 44.06 −32.881 0.214 13.392 0.649 3.755
CF: cutting force; SR: surface roughness; AC: acceleration; g: the acceleration of gravity.

A Fluting rake angle

R

Second relief face

Primary
relief face Gash rake angle 90∘

Primary radial
Rake face relief angle
of end tooth Helix angle

Pitch angle difference

Gash angle A A-A

Figure 2: Geometrical parameters of an end mill.

be selected if only considering the surface roughness for

the end milling of Ti-5Al-5Mo-5V-1Cr-1Fe titanium alloy.
The smallest acceleration can be obtained from experiment
Accelerator number 13 at levels 𝐴 4 𝐵1 𝐶4 𝐷2 𝐸3 among the 16 experiments.
The response table for the Taguchi method is used to
calculate the mean 𝑆/𝑁 ratios for each factor level. First step
is to calculate the sum of the 𝑆/𝑁 ratios for each factor level
in the orthogonal array. Next step is to take the average of
the sum. The mean 𝑆/𝑁 ratios are equal to the average. For
example, the 𝑆/𝑁 ratio for 𝐴 at level 1 can be calculated as
Dynamometer follows:
(−32.119 − 31.193 − 30.256 − 30.381)
𝑀𝐴1 = = −30.987.
4
(11)

The mean 𝑆/𝑁 ratios for each cutter geometric parameter

Figure 3: End milling experiment. level are calculated using the same process method. A higher

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6 Advances in Mechanical Engineering

A B C D E A B C D E
7
−31.0
−31.2

S/N ratios of AC (dB)

6
S/N ratios of CF (dB)

−31.4
5
−31.6
−31.8 4

−32.0
3
−32.2
−32.4 2
4 6 8 10 25 30 35 40 30 35 40 45 2 4 6 8 0 3 5 7
4 6 8 10 25 30 35 40 30 35 40 45 2 4 6 8 0 3 5 7
Figure 6: 𝑆/𝑁 response graph for the acceleration.
Figure 4: 𝑆/𝑁 response graph for cutting force.

13.5 A B C D E Table 4: The mean signal-to-noise (𝑆/𝑁) ratio for cutting force.

Level (𝑆/𝑁)
13.0 Factors Max–min
S/N ratios of SR (dB)

1 2 3 4
12.5
𝐴 −30.987 −31.506 −31.688 −32.144 1.157
𝐵 −32.200 −31.913 −31.046 −31.166 1.154
12.0 𝐶 −32.370 −31.575 −31.383 −30.998 1.372
𝐷 −31.393 −31.459 −31.943 −31.531 0.550
11.5 𝐸 −31.494 −31.585 −31.223 −32.024 0.801

11.0
Table 5: The mean signal-to-noise (𝑆/𝑁) ratio for surface rough-
4 6 8 10 25 30 35 40 30 35 40 45 2 4 6 8 0 3 5 7
ness.
Figure 5: 𝑆/𝑁 response graph for surface roughness.
Level (𝑆/𝑁)
Factors Max–min
1 2 3 4
𝐴 11.251 12.797 12.215 12.681 1.546
𝑆/𝑁 ratio corresponds to a lower value of these performance
𝐵 11.472 12.255 13.188 12.030 1.716
characteristics. For the cutting force, the optimal combi-
nation of parameters is 𝐴 1 𝐵3 𝐶4 𝐷1 𝐸3 based on the data 𝐶 13.136 11.781 11.030 12.998 2.106
presented in Table 4; namely, fluting rake angle is 4∘ , gash 𝐷 12.798 12.029 12.716 11.401 1.397
angle is 35∘ , helix angle is 45∘ , gash rake angle is 2∘ , and 𝐸 12.399 11.774 12.197 12.575 0.801
pitch angle difference is 5∘ . Figure 4 shows the fluctuation
of mean 𝑆/𝑁 ratio of performance characteristics with the Table 6: The mean signal-to-noise (𝑆/𝑁) ratio for the acceleration.
change of cutter geometric parameters. As to the surface
roughness, the optimum cutter geometric parameters are as Factors
Level (𝑆/𝑁)
Max–min
follows based on the data shown in Table 5: fluting rake angle 1 2 3 4
of 6∘ , gash angle of 35∘ , helix angle of 30∘ , gash rake angle of 𝐴 3.992 4.240 4.193 4.671 0.679
2∘ , and pitch angle difference of 7∘ . The mean 𝑆/𝑁 ratio plot 𝐵 4.092 4.961 3.691 4.352 1.270
of surface roughness with respect to front angle, gash angle, 𝐶 3.865 3.460 4.326 5.444 1.984
helix angle, gash rake angle, and pitch angle difference is
𝐷 5.069 6.299 3.400 2.329 3.970
shown in Figure 5. According to the 𝑆/𝑁 analysis, it is clearly
𝐸 3.492 4.563 6.433 2.609 3.824
observed from Table 6 and Figure 6 that the acceleration
reaches the minimum at 𝐴 4 𝐵2 𝐶4 𝐷2 𝐸3 .

4.2. Multiple Objective Optimization of Cutter Geometric
Parameters. As mentioned in Section 2, the multiple per-
formance characteristics for ending milling Ti-5Al-5Mo-
5V-1Cr-1Fe titanium alloy are evaluated using the GRA.
The objective is to convert the optimization of multiple
performance characteristics into the optimization of single
GRG. The following steps are considered for the GRA.
4.2.1. Grey Relational Generation. In the GRA, raw data
preprocessing is the first step, which is known as grey
relational generation. As mentioned above, a larger 𝑆/𝑁 ratio
is desirable. Consequently, (5), a linear normalization, is
employed to preprocess the original response characteristic
sequences. The values of the cutting force, surface roughness,
and the acceleration are set to be the original sequence 𝑥𝑖(0) (𝑘),
where 𝑘 is less than or equal to three corresponding to the
number of performance characteristics and 𝑖 is no more than
sixteen corresponding to the number of experiments. Then,
the 𝑆/𝑁 ratios obtained by Taguchi’s method are normalized
in the range of zero and one. Table 7 shows the normalized

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Advances in Mechanical Engineering 7

Table 7: Normalized experimental results. Table 8: Grey relational coefficients, grey relational grades, and their
order.
Experiment number CF SR AC
1 0.295 0.559 0.31 GRC
Experiment number GRG Rank
2 0.636 0.212 0.61 CF SR AC
3 0.981 0.440 0.45 1 0.415 0.531 0.42 0.455 14
4 0.935 0.417 0.12 2 0.579 0.388 0.56 0.509 9
5 0.000 0.609 0.02 3 0.963 0.472 0.48 0.638 3
6 0.259 0.688 0.45 4 0.885 0.462 0.36 0.569 6
7 1.000 1.000 0.58 5 0.333 0.561 0.34 0.411 15
8 0.823 0.423 0.54 6 0.403 0.616 0.48 0.500 10
9 0.317 0.000 0.20 7 1.000 1.000 0.54 0.847 1
10 0.445 0.829 0.41 8 0.739 0.464 0.52 0.574 5
11 0.243 0.927 0.32 9 0.423 0.333 0.38 0.379 16
12 0.810 0.553 0.63 10 0.474 0.745 0.46 0.560 8
13 0.450 0.615 1.00 11 0.398 0.873 0.42 0.564 7
14 0.144 0.609 0.43 12 0.725 0.528 0.57 0.608 4
15 0.536 0.628 0.00 13 0.476 0.565 1.00 0.680 2
16 0.015 0.785 0.35 14 0.369 0.561 0.47 0.467 13
15 0.519 0.573 0.33 0.474 12
16 0.337 0.699 0.43 0.489 11
results for cutting force, surface roughness, and the accelera-
tion. Basically, the larger normalized results correspond to the
better performance and the best-normalized results should be to the calculation process of mean 𝑆/𝑁 ratios, as shown
equal to one. in Table 9. Figure 7 demonstrates their fluctuation with the
change of cutter geometric parameters. Since the GRG
4.2.2. Grey Relational Coefficient and Grey Relational Grade. reflects the level of correlation between the comparability and
After obtaining the normalized sequence, the next step is the reference sequences, a larger GRG represents the compa-
to calculate the GRC and the GRG. Since the 𝑆/𝑁 ratio is rability sequence exhibiting a stronger correlation with the
the larger-the-better, the reference sequence should take the reference sequence [1, 1, 1]. Based on this basic criterion of
maximum as follows: grey system theory, one can select a combination of the design
factor levels that provide the largest average performance
𝑥0∗ = [1, 1, 1] . (12) characteristics. As listed in Table 9, the combination of 𝐴 2 ,
𝐵3 , 𝐶4 , 𝐷1 , and 𝐸3 shows the largest value of the GRG for the
The comparability sequence 𝑥𝑖∗ (𝑘) has been obtained design factors 𝐴, 𝐵, 𝐶, 𝐷, and 𝐸, respectively. Consequently,
from the previous step. Then, according to (8), the maximum 𝐴 2 𝐵3 𝐶4 𝐷1 𝐸3 with a fluting rake angle of 6∘ , gash angle of
and minimum of deviation sequences are calculated as 35∘ , helix angle of 45∘ , gash rake angle of 2∘ , and pitch angle
follows: difference of 5∘ is the optimum cutter geometric parameter
combination.
max max Δ 0𝑖 (𝑘) = |0 − 1| = 1, 1 ≤ 𝑖 ≤ 16, 1 ≤ 𝑘 ≤ 3,
∀𝑖 ∀𝑘 From Table 9, the difference between the maximum and
minimum value of the GRG of the milling parameters is
min min Δ 0𝑖 (𝑘) = |1 − 1| = 0, 1 ≤ 𝑖 ≤ 16, 1 ≤ 𝑘 ≤ 3. 0.055 for 𝐴 (fluting rake angle), 0.150 for 𝐵 (gash angle),
∀𝑖 ∀𝑘
(13) 0.184 for 𝐶 (helix angle), 0.113 for 𝐷 (gash rake angle), and
0.104 for 𝐸 (pitch angle difference). These difference values
Suppose the performance characteristics have equal reflect the level of effect of cutter geometric parameters on the
weights, and set the distinguish coefficient 𝜁 as 0.5 in performance characteristics. In other words, the comparison
the current study [31]. The value of 𝜁 is smaller and the among the difference values will qualitatively give the level
identification ability is larger. With (10), it is easy to obtain of significance of the control factors over the multiple
the GRG. Table 8 lists the grey relational coefficients and performance characteristics. It can be easily observed that the
the grades for all sixteen comparability sequences. In this maximum value among 0.055, 0.150, 0.184, 0.113, and 0.104 is
investigation, a higher GRG means the corresponding cutter 0.184, which means the helix angle has the most remarkable
geometric parameters combination is closer to the optimum. effect on the multiple performance characteristics among the
In other words, the larger the GRG is, the better the multiple cutter geometric parameters.
performance characteristics will be [26]. Owing to the fact
that experiment number 7 has the highest GRG, it has the best 4.2.3. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). In this paper, ANOVA
multiple performance characteristics among all experiments. is employed to investigate which cutter geometric parameters
The average grey relational grades for each factor level significantly affect the integrated performance of end mill
have been calculated using the process approach similar Ti-5Al-5Mo-5V-1Cr-1Fe titanium alloy. It is accomplished by

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8 Advances in Mechanical Engineering

Table 9: Response table of the average grey relational grade. A B C D E

0.65
GRG
Factors Max–min Rank
1 2 3 4
𝐴 0.543 0.583 0.528 0.528 0.055 5 0.60

GRG
𝐵 0.481 0.509 0.631 0.560 0.150 2
𝐶 0.480 0.523 0.515 0.664 0.184 1 0.55
𝐷 0.594 0.582 0.525 0.481 0.113 3
𝐸 0.516 0.556 0.607 0.503 0.104 4 0.50
Total mean value of the grey relational grade = 0.545.

4 6 8 10 25 30 35 40 30 35 40 45 2 4 6 8 0 3 5 7
Table 10: ANOVA results for grey relational grade.
Figure 7: Response graph of average grey relational grade.
Factors DF SS MS 𝐹 𝜌 (%)
𝐴 3 0.0082 0.0027 — 4.21
The initial cutter geometric parameters are selected as
𝐵 3 0.0518 0.0173 6.30 26.51
𝐴 2 𝐵3 𝐶4 𝐷1 𝐸2 due to the largest GRG of experiment number
𝐶 3 0.0757 0.0252 9.22 38.76 7 among the sixteen experiments. Table 11 illustrates the
𝐷 3 0.0335 0.0111 4.07 17.12 comparison of the experimental results using the initial and
𝐸 3 0.0262 0.0087 3.19 13.41 optimal cutter geometric parameters. Under the condition
Error 0 0 — — — with the levels 𝐴 2 𝐵3 𝐶4 𝐷1 𝐸3 of the optimum parameters, the
Total 15 0.1952 0.0130 100 grey relational grade has been improved 0.122; cutting force
DF: degree of freedom; SS: sum of squares; 𝜌: percentage of contribution. is greatly reduced from 32.37 N to 25.57 N; surface roughness
Significance is at 95% confidence level. is decreased to 0.170 𝜇m, an improvement of 8.60%; the
acceleration has been improved from 0.506 g to 0.340 g.
Optimal parameter settings obtained by individually ana-
separating the total variability of the grey relational grade, lyzing 𝑆/𝑁 ratio in Section 4.1 are 𝐴 1 𝐵3 𝐶4 𝐷1 𝐸3 for cutting
which is measured by the sum of the squared deviations from force, A2 B3 C1 D1 E4 for surface roughness, and 𝐴 4 𝐵2 𝐶4 𝐷2 𝐸3
the total mean of the grey relational grade, into contributions for the acceleration. The corresponding GRGs are 0.608,
by each cutter geometric parameter and the error. According 0.558, and 0.578, respectively, which are less than the GRG
to the results of ANOVA, the influential degree of each under the condition with the optimum parameter level
cutter geometric parameter on the GRG can be estimated 𝐴 2 𝐵3 𝐶4 𝐷1 𝐸3 . It demonstrates the effectiveness of the grey-
by the percent contribution. The results of ANOVA are Taguchi method for the multiobjective optimization com-
obtained using statistical software MINITAB 17, as illustrated pared with the analysis of 𝑆/𝑁 ratio. In summary, it is
in Table 10. The effects of design factors on the grey relational clearly shown that multiobjective quality characteristics for
grades are plotted in Figure 8. It can be clearly observed that end milling of Ti-5Al-5Mo-5V-1Cr-1Fe titanium alloy can be
the main contribution percentages for fluting rake angle, gash significantly improved by optimization of cutter geometric
angle, helix angle, gash rake angle, and pitch angle difference parameters.
are 4.21%, 26.51%, 38.76%, 17.12%, and 13.41%. Furthermore,
helix angle is the most significant cutter geometric parameter 5. Conclusions
due to its 𝐹 statistics value. That is to say, it should be the prior
control factor of end mill to simultaneously minimize cutting This study applies the grey relational analysis integrating with
force, surface roughness, and the acceleration for end milling the Taguchi method to optimize the cutter geometric parame-
of Ti-5Al-5Mo-5V-1Cr-1Fe titanium alloy. ters with multiple performance characteristics (cutting force,
surface roughness, and the acceleration) for end milling
4.3. Validation Test. A validation experiment is conducted of Ti-5Al-5Mo-5V-1Cr-1Fe titanium alloy. Conclusions are
to verify the improvement of the performance characteristics summarized as follows.
using the optimum cutter geometric parameter combination (1) The validation experiment indicates that grey-
𝐴 2 𝐵3 𝐶4 𝐷1 𝐸3 . The estimated grey relational grade 𝛾̂ using the Taguchi method is an effective approach of multi-
optimum milling parameters can be expressed as objectives optimization to the structural parameters
of end mill for machining Ti-5Al-5Mo-5V-1Cr-1Fe
𝑛
titanium alloy. With this method, the grey relational
𝛾̂ = 𝛾𝑚 + ∑ (𝛾𝑖 − 𝛾𝑚 ) , (14)
𝑖=1
grade of the multiple performance characteristics is
significantly improved by 0.122.
where 𝛾𝑚 is the total mean of the grey relational grade, 𝛾𝑖 is (2) Through the analysis of 𝑆/𝑁 ratio, the optimal con-
the mean of the grey relational grade at the optimal level, and trollable factors for cutting force are fluting rake angle
𝑛 is the number of milling parameters that significantly affect of 4∘ , gash angle of 35∘ , helix angle of 45∘ , gash
the multiple performance characteristics. rake angle of 2∘ , and pitch angle difference of 5∘ ; the

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Advances in Mechanical Engineering
Table 11: The comparing results of the initial and optimal cutter geometric parameters.
Optimal cutter geometric parameters
Initial milling factors
Prediction
Level 𝐴 2 𝐵3 𝐶4 𝐷1 𝐸2
CF (N) 32.37
SR (𝜇m) 0.186
AC (g) 0.506
GRG 0.847 0.899
Improvement of the grey relational grade = 0.122.
Pitch angle difference
(E) 13.41%
Gash rake angle
(D) 17.12%
Helix angle (C)
38.76%
Figure 8: Effects of the factors according to ANOVA results on grey relational grade (%).
optimum fluting rake angle, gash angle, helix angle,
gash rake angle, and pitch angle difference for surface
roughness are 6∘ , 35∘ , 30∘ , 2∘ , and 7∘ ; the optimized
fluting rake angle, gash angle, helix angle, gash rake
angle, and pitch angle difference for the acceleration
are 10∘ , 30∘ , 45∘ , 4∘ , and 5∘ .
(3) According to results of ANOVA, the percentage
of contribution to the end milling operation, in
sequence, is the helix angle, the gash angle, the
gash rake angle, the pitch angle difference, and the
fluting rake angle. Hence, the helix angle is the most
significant control factor for the end milling process
when the minimization of the cutting force, surface
roughness, and the acceleration are simultaneously
considered.
(4) The largest value of grey relational grade is obtained
at the combination of cutter geometric parameters
with a fluting rake angle of 6∘ , gash angle of 35∘ ,
helix angle of 45∘ , gash rake angle of 2∘ , and pitch
angle difference of 5∘ . It is the recommended levels for
end milling Ti-5Al-5Mo-5V-1Cr-1Fe titanium alloy
when simultaneously optimizing the five structural
parameters of an end mill.
Conflict of Interests
The authors declare that there is no conflict of interests
regarding the publication of this paper.
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9
Improvement rate, (%)
Validation tests
𝐴 2 𝐵3 𝐶4 𝐷1 𝐸3
25.57 21.01
0.170 8.60
0.340 32.81
0.969 14.40
Fluting rake angle (A)
4.21%
Gash angle (B)
26.51%
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the National Science and Tech-
nology Major Project of China (no. 2013ZX04001081) and
Graduate Starting Seed Fund of Northwestern Polytechnical
University (Z2013031).
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