Performance predictions of using novel SiO₂ nanolubrication in end-milling of aerospace AL 6061-T6 alloy - ANFIS modeling approach

Aluminum AL6061-T6 is a common alloy which is used for many purposes since it has the superior mechanical properties such as hardness and weldability. It is commonly used in aircraft, automotive and packaging food industries. Milling of AI6061-T6 would be a good process especially in producing varieties shape of products to adapt with different applications. The capability of the CNC milling machine to make batch production would be a noteworthy advantage. However, the demand for high quality focuses attention on product quality, especially the roughness of the machined surface, because of its effect on product appearance, function, and reliability. Introducing correct lubrication in the machining zone could improve the tribological characteristic of A16061-T6 leading to higher product quality. Due to complexity and uncertainty of the machining processes, soft computing techniques are being preferred to physics-based models for predicting the performance of the machining processes and optimizing them. In this research work, a new application of ANFIS to predict the performance of machining AL-6061-T6 using SiO₂ nanolubricant is presented. The parameters of SiO₂ nanolubrication include SiO₂ concentration, nozzle angle and air carrier pressure are investigated to improve the milling of A16061-T6 to achieve correct lubrication conditions for the lowest cutting force, cutting temperature and surface roughness. The predicted results achieved via ANFIS model are compared to the experimental result. The result demonstrated settlement between the ANFIS model and experimental results for cutting force, cutting temperature and surface roughness with 96.195%, 98.27% and 91.37% accuracy, respectively.