Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2009) 43:852–861
DOI 10.1007/s00170-008-1763-3
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
An integrated study of surface roughness for modelling
and optimization of cutting parameters during end
milling operation
H. Öktem
Received: 21 May 2008 / Accepted: 15 September 2008 / Published online: 1 October 2008
# Springer-Verlag London Limited 2008
Abstract The aim of this study is to develop an integrated
study of surface roughness to model and optimize the
cutting parameters when end milling of AISI 1040 steel
material with TiAlN solid carbide tools under wet condi-
tion. A multiple regression analysis using analysis of
variance is conducted to determine the performance of
experimental measurements and to show the effect of four
cutting parameters on the surface roughness. Artificial
neural network (ANN) based on Back-propagation (BP)
learning algorithm is used to construct the surface rough-
ness model exploiting a full factorial design of experiments.
Genetic algorithm (GA) supported with the tested ANN is
utilized to determine the best combinations of cutting
parameters providing roughness to the lower surface
through optimization process. GA improves the surface
roughness value from 0.67 to 0.59 μm with approximately
12% gain. Then, machining time has also decreased from
1.282 to 1.0316 min by about 20% reduction based on the
cutting parameters before and after optimization process
using the analytical formulas. The final measurement
experiment has been performed to verify surface roughness
value resulted from GA with that of the material surface by
3.278% error. From these results, it can be easily realized
that the developed study is reliable and suitable for solving
the other problems encountered in metal cutting operations
as the same as surface roughness.
Keywords End milling . Surface roughness . Artificial neural
network . Regression analysis . Genetic algorithm .
Optimization
H. Öktem (*)
Gebze Vocational School,
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Kocaeli,
41420 Gebze-Kocaeli, Turkey
e-mail: hoktem@kocaeli.edu.tr
1 Introduction
Surface roughness plays a critical role in evaluating and
measuring the surface quality of the machined a product in
today’s manufacturing industry. Surface roughness greatly
affects the functional attributes of products which are
friction, wear resistance, fatigue, lubricant, light reflection,
and coating. Surface roughness is not only a quality
indicator but is also the final stage in controlling the
machining performance and the operation cost [1, 2].
End milling is one of the most popular and efficient
operations for removing metal from the material surfaces
highly used in automotive parts, moulds/dies, electronic
devices, medical components, and other engineering appli-
cations. End milling operation is associated with surface
roughness due to some requirements such as machining
efficiency, high-quality surfaces, dimensional accuracy, and
the process reliability [3, 4].
Surface roughness is a result of many factors including
cutting parameters, tool geometry, workpiece material,
chatter, and cutting fluids. Several researches have been
performed to present the effect of these factors on the
surface roughness in end milling of steels and aluminums.
Huang and Chen [5] studied that an empirical approach
investigates surface roughness based on the cutting param-
eters and uncontrollable factors in end milling operations.
Mansour and Abdalla [6] have developed a surface
roughness model for end milling of EN32M by employing
cutting parameters of speed, feed, and depth of cut. Reddy
and Rao [7] introduced an experimental work to show the
effect of tool geometry and cutting conditions on the
milling of AISI 1045 steel for surface roughness model.
Several investigations have been carried out to predict
surface roughness dependent upon Artificial neural network
(ANN) model by means of cutting parameters in end milling
Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2009) 43:852–861
and turning operations. The surface roughness prediction has
been demonstrated by Huang et al. [8] based on the ANN
model for end-milling of Aluminum 6061 material. A neural
network modeling approach has been presented by Benardos
and Vosniakos [9] to estimate the surface roughness in CNC
milling process exploiting a number of experiments. The
ANN-based modeling study has been implemented by
Nalbant et al. [10] to create the prediction model on the
surface roughness of steel parts at CNC turning with PVD-
and CVD-coated carbide tools. The other study of ANN
model has been examined by Zhong et al. [11] to model
surface roughness in turning of aluminum and copper
materials using TiAlN-coated carbide tools.
The Neural network models have been created for solving
the nonlinear problems dependent upon back-propagation
learning algorithm when machining operations on the
materials under wet–dry conditions for surface roughness
prediction by the help of input–output parameters [11–13].
Many methods have been introduced and are in use for
determining the best combinations of process parameters
while solving engineering problems. For this purpose,
genetic algorithm (GA) coupled with ANN models was
utilized by exploiting experimental data obtained from
various processes. Jesuthanam et al. [14] developed a
hybrid model to find the lower surface roughness by
combining ANN with GA during end milling operation. A
systematic experimental investigation was proposed [15] to
optimize the heat treatment technique 7175 Aluminum
alloy by integrating ANN model and GA technique. The
study of ANN model supported by GA has been addressed
[16] for optimum design of bridge decks to reduce
computational effort under the constraints. Cus and Balic
[17] postulated that an effective approach used GA
technique without any ANN method for improvement of
cutting conditions depending on objective function and the
constraints while turning experiments.
In this study, an effective ANN model integrated with
GA optimization technique was developed to determine the
best combinations of cutting parameters leading to the
lower surface roughness when end milling of AISI 1040
steel with TiAlN solid carbide tools. A multilayered neural
network was trained based on back-propagation learning
algorithm and tested to control the performance of the
trained ANN model. By adapting the tested ANN model with
Table 1 The levels of cutting parameters
Levels Cutting parameters
Vc (m/min) ft (mm/tooth) aa (mm) ar (mm)
1 140 0.07 0.5 1
2 190 0.095 1 3
3 240 0.12 1.5 5
853
the powerful GA technique, optimization process was applied
to achieve the lower surface roughness in terms of the best
combinations of cutting parameters. The advantage of my
method is related with GA program. Most of GAs in literature
converts the constrained optimization problem into the
unconstrained optimization problems with penalty function
before starting solution. This situation brings the difficulty of
best selection of problem-dependent penalty coefficient which
wants the user experience. Nevertheless, GA program in this
paper overcomes this difficulty because problem-dependent
coefficient is not needed. By about 20% reduction, machining
time was decreased based on the analytical formulas using the
cutting parameters before and after optimization process. The
lower surface roughness predicted from GA was verified with
that of measured from experiments considering cutting
parameters to demonstrate the ability, the reliability, and the
feasibility of optimization process in this study.
2 Experimental set-up and plan
2.1 Design of experiments
The design of experimentation has a significant role on the
number of experiments needed. Therefore, cutting experi-
ments should be well-designed. In the present study, a
number of cutting experiments (a total of 81 experiments)
based on a three-level full factorial design were performed
to obtain surface roughness values measured from AISI
1040 steel materials under wet conditions. Cutting param-
eters such as cutting speed (Vc), feed (ft), axial (aa) and
radial (ar) depth of cut were selected for 81 experiments in
end milling of AISI 1040 steel workpieces on a MANFORD
controlled by FANUC O-IMC series three-axis CNC milling
machine equipped with the rotational speed of 10,000 rpm and
the motor drive of 15 Kw. The levels of cutting parameters are
Fig. 1 End milling operations on the workpiece material
854 Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2009) 43:852–861

Table 2 The technical details of cutting tools from various machining processes. The average roughness
Properties Value (Ra) is used commonly for its popular in industry. In the
present study, 81 Ra values were measured from workpiece
Tool diameter ∅10 surfaces at four equally divided regions. Each of 81 Ra
Tool overhang 72 mm values was repeated at least three times and then, the average
Helix angle 30°
of these values was recorded by a MAHR-Perthometer S4P
Rake angle 0.25×45°
roughness instrument. During the roughness measurements,
Comprehensive strength 1,600 HV
Transverse strength 4,100 N/mm2 the cutoff length was set to be 2.5 mm for sampling length of
Density 14.45 g/cm3 17.5 mm. The environment temperature was 20±1°C.
Grain size 0.8 μ Surface roughness measurements recorded in the perpendic-
Coating PVD AlTiN ular to cutting direction are shown in Fig. 3.

listed in Table 1 [18, 19]. End milling operation applied for
cutting experiments are shown in Fig. 1.
2.2 Cutting tool and material
The cutting tools used for experimental were manufactured
by ISCUR which were solid coated end mills. The details
of cutting tools are given in Table 2. The tool wear of end
mills was observed using a PHILIPS scanning electron
microscope in terms of surface roughness after eight cutting
experiments. Flank wear called as the dominant tool wear
was found from 0.08 to 0.1 mm on all four teeth illustrated
in Fig. 2. This value of flank wear is not considered for
roughness measurements because of its small value.
AISI 1040 steel workpieces of size 40 mm×40 mm×
40 mm were prepared and utilized for measurement of surface
roughness in the present study. The hardness of AISI 1040
steel was measured as 190 BHN. The chemical composition
and the mechanical properties are listed in Tables 3 and 4.
2.3 Measurement of surface roughness
The most practical way in determining of the surface quality
for a product is to measure surface roughness. Surface
roughness is defined as permanent irregularities remained
3 Statistical analysis
A multiple regression analysis was performed to demon-
strate the fitness of experimental measurements (81 Ra
values) as shown in Figs. 8 and 9. For this purpose, a linear
polynomial regression model was created by employing the
Ra values. Table 5 represents the results obtained from
multiple regression analysis. In Table 5, R2, which is the
correlation coefficient and called R-sq, is calculated to be
0.971 (97.1). When R2 approaches the value of 1, the
multiple regression models match very well with experi-
mental measurements. It also agrees with the multiple
regression model and provides a very good relationship
between four cutting parameters and surface roughness.
Analysis of variance (ANOVA) analysis was carried out to
determine the effect of cutting parameters on the surface
roughness. Table 6 shows that the statistical significance of
four cutting parameters for surface roughness (Ra) is evaluated
by F test. The value of “Prob.>F” in Table 6 for these
parameters is less than 0.05 (i.e., a=0.05 or 95% confidence
level). This illustrates that cutting parameters have a signif-
icant effect on the surface roughness. Clearly from Table 6,
the axial depth of the cut (aa), the radial depth of the cut (ar),
feed (ft), and cutting speed (Vc) affect surface roughness by
88.96%, 6.96%, 0.98%, and 0.771%, respectively.

Fig. 2 Cutting tool and SEM of

flank wear in cutting tool
Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2009) 43:852–861 855

Table 3 Chemical composition of AISI 1040 steel (wt.%)

C Si Mn P S Cu

0.434 0.174 0.684 0.011 0.031 0.62

4 Artificial neural network modelling

ANN has been developed by simulating the biological

structure of human brain. ANN is one of the most popular
nonlinear mapping systems in artificial intelligence which
has the ability to solve many problems including modeling,
predicting, and measuring in experimental knowledge [20].
ANN structure is generally designed by multilayers: input Fig. 3 The set-up of surface roughness measurement
layer, hidden layer, and output layers. The neurons, called
as processing elements in layers, are linked by weighted Tangent hyperbolic as activation function in Eq. 2 are
interconnections, which resemble the intensity of bioelec- chosen for the present study:
tricity transmitting among the neuron cells in real network
[21].
 1 eð NETj Þ
F NETj ¼ ð2Þ
1 þ eð NETj Þ
4.1 Back-propagation learning algorithm



OUTj ¼ F NETj ð3Þ
ANN learns (or trains) the problems from examples by
creating functional relationships between input and outputs. BP learning algorithm updates the weights and trains the
Back-propagation (BP) is a common learning algorithm neural network until the mean square error (MSE) con-
employed in neural networks. BP learning algorithm has a verges to a minimum value between the desired output and
rule known as gradient descent method minimizing the the network output:
mean square error between the desired output and the The network system error:
network output. A multilayered ANN based on BP learning
M X K
algorithm can be effectively created by utilizing the 1X
MSE ¼ ðDESmk OUTmk Þ2 ð4Þ
equations in the following: 2 m¼1 k¼1
N
X where DESmk and OUTmk are the desired output and the
NETj ¼ Wij Xi ð1Þ network output, K is the number of output neuron, M is the
j¼0
overall number of data set.
In neural network, each neuron receives total input from The adjustment of the weights can be defined as follows:
all of the neuron in the previous layer. Wij is the connection
DWij ðt Þ ¼ hd j Xi þ aDWij ðt 1Þ ð5Þ
weight from the ith input neuron to the jth hidden neuron,
Xi is the ith input, and N is the number of inputs to the jth
hidden neuron. NETj is the sum of the weighted outputs
and transferred into the activation function (F) which gives Table 5 Multiple regression model and their results
the output (OUTj) of the jth neuron in the next layers.
Ra ¼ 0:0545 þ 2:17ft þ 0:001Vc þ 0:245ae þ 0:353ar

Predictor Coefficient SE Coefficient T P

Constant −0.05454 0.08368 −0.65 0.517

ft 2.1731 0.5864 3.71 0.000
Table 4 Mechanical properties of AISI 1040 steel
Vc 0.0010014 0.0002932 3.42 0.001
Tensile Yield Shear Elasticity Elongation ae 0.24510 0.01923 12.74 0.000
strength strength strength module (%) ar 0.353368 0.007330 48.21 0.000
S=0.1087 R-Sq(pred)=96.69% R-Sq(adj)=96.9%
600 MPa 361 MPa 410 MPa 210 MPa 25 PRESS=1.02508 R-Sq=97.1%
856 Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2009) 43:852–861

Table 6 ANOVA results for surface roughness

Source DF SS Seq MS f-value Prob. > F Contribution (%)

ft 2 0.2816 0.1408 13.86 0.000 0.908

Vc 2 0.2390 0.1195 11.76 0.000 0.771
ae 2 2.1561 1.0780 106.12 0.000 6.96
ar 2 27.5879 13.7940 1357.91 0.0000 88.96
Error 73 0.7415 0.0102 2.39
Total 81 31.0061 100

where η is the learning rate controlling the stability, α is the
momentum rate, and t is the iteration. Figure 4 indicates the
architecture of BP learning algorithm selected in this study.
The learning errors for each neuron in layer to layer:
di ¼ F 0 ðNETk ÞðDESmk OUTmk Þ ð6Þ
X
dk ¼ d k Wkj F 0 ðNETk Þ ð7Þ
4.2 Training and testing of neural network for surface
roughness
In training stage, three-layered ANN as shown in Fig. 5
consists of one input, two hidden and one-input layers.
While each of the hidden layers have 21 neurons, four
neurons in input layer and one neuron in output layer were
used for training process. Cutting parameters such as
cutting speed, feed, axial, radial depths of cut were
employed in input layer corresponding to surface roughness
in output layer. The training of ANN was performed with
75 Ra values measured from the milled of material surfaces
in Matlab Neural Network Toolbox [22]. For determining
the stability and the rate of convergence, the learning rate
(η) is selected to be 0.0005. Training process continued
about 1 h 40 min and maximum iteration of 607,000 with
the MSE of 7.29321×10−4 until the performance was met.
Figure 6 indicates the comparison of the MSE with the
maximum number of iterations through training process
(performance word symbolizes the MSE in Fig. 6).
In the testing stage, the trained ANN was tested to check
the accuracy of the surface roughness model exploiting six
Ra values (not placed in training data set and randomly
selected from 81 Ra values). The prediction accuracy of
trained ANN can be determined by the following equations:
vffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
M X K
u
u 1 X
RMSE ¼ t ðDESmk OUTmk Þ2 ð8Þ
2M m¼1 k¼1
 
ðMvalue Pvalue Þ
APE ð%Þ ¼  100 ð9Þ
Mvalue
RMSE is root mean squared error which is an important
formula in evaluating statistical results. APE calculates the
average percentage of error between the Ra values measured
from experiments (Mvalue) and the Ra values predicted from
the neural network (Pvalue).

Fig. 4 The architecture of BP

learning algorithm
Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2009) 43:852–861 857

Fig. 5 Three-layered ANN topology for surface roughness

5 Optimization methodology using GA technique

5.1 Introduction to genetic algorithm

The GA (Genetic Algorithm) is a powerful and robust tool
in solving optimization problems in the engineering,
mathematics, and the other fields. GAs are computerized
searching and optimization algorithms based on Darwin’s
evolutionary computation technique which presents the idea
of “survival fittest” and “natural selection” [23–25].
The GA hopes to converge on the better solution by
beginning with a set of potential solution changing them
through several generations. This process starts with a
potential solution of chromosomes (usually in the form
binary string) which are created or chosen at random. The
entire set of these chromosomes evolve during several
Fig. 7 Flowchart of the GA searching procedure
generations or iterations. New generations are created using
the crossover and mutation operators. Crossover performs
splitting two chromosomes and then integrating one half of
each chromosome with the other pair. Mutation is carried
out by flipping a single bit of chromosome. The chromo-
somes are then evaluated utilizing a fitness criterion, and
the best ones are saved, while the others are thrown. The
process completes once a near optimum solution that has a
fitness value, is found. The flowchart of GA searching
procedure is briefly illustrated in Fig. 7.

3,0 Measured
Predicted ANN TRAIN 75
2,5
Roughness (Ra)

2,0

1,5

1,0

0,5

0,0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Experiments

Fig. 8 The comparison of the measured with the predicted of Ra

Fig. 6 The relationship between the MSE and the maximum iterations values for training
858 Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2009) 43:852–861

2,5 Measured cutting industry. Due to the fact that end milling operation
Predicted ANN TEST 6 has complex nature, objectives which are machining time
and surface roughness are usually in conflict to each other.
2,0
For example, machining time may increase with surface
roughness decreases. In this paper, machining time was
Roughness (Ra)

1,5 calculated by utilizing cutting parameters before optimiza-

tion, and the best combinations of cutting parameters after
1,0 optimization process based on analytical formulas in Eqs.
11–13 which was taken from tool manufacturer catalogues.
In the calculation of machining time, the following
0,5
equations are utilized:
1000Vc
0,0 n¼ ð11Þ
1 2 3 4 5 6 pDc
Experiments

Fig. 9 The comparison of the measured with the predicted of Ra values Vf ¼ ft x n x Zn ð12Þ
for testing

5.2 Optimization of surface roughness with GA Im

The best selection of cutting parameters improves not only
the benefit for end milling cost, but also the surface quality
to a large extent by minimizing the roughness value. In the
present study, an effective GA is developed to determine
the best combinations of cutting parameters given in Table 1
by exploiting global optimization method. The problem of
optimization of cutting parameters can be described by
minimizing surface roughness as objective function. The
present optimization problem is stated as follows:
Find Ra = [Vc, ft, aa, ar]
to minimize f (Ra) = (Vc, ft, aa, ar)
Subject to cutting parameters:
140  Vc  240 m=min
0:07  ft  0:12 mm=tooth
ð10Þ
0:3  aa  0:7 mm
1  ar  5 mm
5.2.1 Machining time
Machining time is a variable affecting machining econom-
ics problems encountered in end milling operation of metal
Tm ¼ ð13Þ
Vf
where n is speed (rev/min), Vc is cutting speed (m/min), ft is
feed per tooth (mm/tooth), Dc is cutting diameter (mm), Vf
is table feedrate (mm/min), Zn is the number of tooth, Im is
cutting distance (mm), and machining time is Tm (min).
Before optimization process, the speed (n1), table feedrate
(Vf1), and machining time (Tm1) were calculated by
exploiting the cutting parameters corresponding to Ra value
of 0.67 μm, which is the smallest value within 81
experimental measurements.
n1 ¼ 4; 456 rev=min
Vf 1 ¼ 1; 248 mm=min
Tm1 ¼ 1:282 min
After optimization process, the speed (n2), table feedrate
(Vf2), and machining time (Tm2) were calculated by using
the best combinations of cutting parameters leading to Ra
value of 0.59 μm analyzed from GA program.
n2 ¼ 5; 539 rev=min
Vf 2 ¼ 1; 551 mm=min
Tm2 ¼ 1:0316 min

Table 7 The results obtained from the testing of the trained ANN

Cutting parameters Surface roughness values (μm) ANN results

Vc m/dak ft mm/tooth aa (mm) ar (mm) Measured Predicted RMSE Deviation APE (%)

240 0.12 0.5 1 0.84 0.816 0.06164 0.10010 5.44

240 0.07 1.5 1 1.27 1.299
240 0.095 0.5 3 1.73 1.786
240 0.12 1 3 1.84 1.740
240 0.07 0.5 5 2.10 2.112
240 0.095 1 5 2.43 2.519
Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2009) 43:852–861 859

Table 8 The best combinations of cutting parameters resulted optimization process

ANN-GA Cutting parameters Surface roughness Machining time Improvement Reduction

(μm) (min) (%) (%)
Vc m/ ft mm/ aa ar
dak tooth mm mm

Before 140 0.07 0.5 1 0.670 1.282 12 20

optimization
After 174 0.070 0.705 1 0.590 1.0316
optimization

With the result of machining time values of Tm1 and Tm2, ments were conducted on the workpiece by using cutting
the percentage of reduction can be calculated as Eq. 14: parameters dependent upon full factorial design. The
Tm 1 Tm 2
variation of 81 Ra values with the number of experiments
1:282 1:0316
Tm ¼ Tm 1  100 ¼ 1:282  100 Tm ¼ 20% ð14Þ is shown in Figs. 8 and 9.
The 75 Ra values were utilized to train the ANN model,
In order to optimize the problem expressed in Eq. 10,
while the remaining data (six Ra values) were employed to
GA has used the variables along the optimization process:
test the trained ANN in ‘MATLAB’ Toolbox [22]. The
population size of 50, crossover rate of 10, mutation rate of
relationship between the 75 Ra values measured from
0.1, the total bit length of each chromosome of 16, and the
experiments and those of predicted the ANN model is
number of iterations of 1,000.
plotted in Fig. 8. It is seen from this figure that the measured
The GA can be employed in both unconstrained and
and the predicted Ra values increase continually with the
constrained optimization problems. In the present study, an
number of experiments although there are the slight
effective GA written in ‘MATLAB’ is used to solve the
fluctuations. Also from Fig. 8, it can be concluded that the
optimization problem in Eq. 10 and to calculate the
measured Ra values match very close to the predicted Ra
machining time defined in Eq. 13 without any constraint
values. The ANN model has estimated to some errors for
for the searching efficiency and less computational time
training stage: the RMSE is 0.027006, the maximum
within the best combinations (optimum values) of cutting
deviation is 0.081279, and the APE is 9.98%, respectively.
parameters.
Figure 9 shows that the change of the measured and the
predicted of Ra values during testing stage. In Fig. 9, the Ra
values of the measured and the predicted increase when
6 Results and discussion
experiments increase from 1 to 6 numbers. It can also be
inferred that a good agreement is observed between the
The experimental results have been obtained to establish the
measured and the predicted of Ra values in Fig. 9. Table 7
mathematical model based on the ANN and to optimize the
indicates the results obtained from the testing of the trained
cutting parameters during end milling of AISI 1040 steel
ANN model. As shown in Table 7, the data set consisting of
workpiece. Eighty-one Ra values measured from experi-

Fig. 11 The final measurement experiment for confirmation of the

Fig. 10 The performance of the GA after 1,000 generations GA
860
six Ra values were randomly selected from 81 Ra experi-
ments, and they were not used for training of ANN. It can be
observed from this table that the RMSE is 0.061644, the
maximum deviation is 0.100109, and the APE is 5.44%,
consecutively.
In order to optimize the present problem stated in Eq. 8, GA
that coupled with the ANN model was developed to find the
best combinations of cutting parameters to provide the lower
surface roughness with high prediction accuracy and less
computational time. Table 8 illustrates the best combinations
of cutting parameters obtained by GA technique for the lower
surface roughness when no constraint is set. From Table 8, it
is possible to state that GA reduces surface roughness value,
which is the smallest in experimental measurements, from
0.67 to 0.59 μm by approximately 12% gain.
By utilizing the cutting parameters that resulted before
and after optimization process, machining time decreased
from 1.282 to 1.0316 min by about 20% reduction. It can
also be seen from the results calculated in the analytical
formulas that the speed (n1) and table feedrate (Vf1) have
increased after the optimization process. This means that
machining time decreases with the increase in the table feed
rate without any increase on the surface roughness as the
speed increases. Although the reduction in machining time
is 20%, it is very important to evaluate the economics
analysis of large-scale operations in metal cutting industry.
The results obtained are also added in Table 8.
Also from Table 8, it can be assumed that the surface
roughness value that resulted from GA presents a good
performance with that of the final measurement experiment
(0.61 μm) as shown Fig. 11 with the help of the best
combinations of cutting parameters. Compared to surface
roughness of the final measurement experiment with GA,
the prediction error is found to be 3.78% approximately.
The performance that resulted from GA after 1,000
generations is shown in Figs. 10 and 11 (obj value equal
to the value of Ra in this figure).
7 Conclusion
In the present study, the best combinations of cutting
parameters have been found to provide the lower surface
roughness without any constraint for end milling of AISI
1040 material utilizing TiAlN solid carbide tools. The
regression and ANOVA analysis were conducted to control
the performance of experimental measurements and to
indicate the influence of four cutting parameters on the
surface roughness. A multilayered ANN-based on BP
learning algorithm was trained and tested to construct the
prediction model for surface roughness (Ra) measured from
experiments. An effective GA adapted with the ANN was
employed to determine the best combinations of cutting
Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2009) 43:852–861
parameters while reaching the lower surface roughness. The
final measurement experiment by exploiting the best
combinations of cutting parameters was conducted to
compare Ra values obtained through GA with that of the
one measured from the material surface.
In light of these results, the following conclusions can be
summarized:
& From the analysis of regression, R2 is found to be 0.971.
Therefore, the experimental measurements (Ra values)
are adequate to construct the prediction model for
surface roughness.
& From ANOVA results, it can be realized that the axial
depth of cut (aa) is the most important cutting
parameters affecting surface roughness by 88.96%
contribution.
& Ra values predicted the ANN model match very well
with that of the measured experiments for training and
testing stages. It is clearly seen that the training error is
9.98% and the error is 5.44%.
& GA coupled with the tested ANN model improves Ra
value, from 0.67 to 0.59 μm, by about 12% gain.
& The machining time was decreased by approximately
20% reduction. Based on this result, it can be concluded
that machining time decreases with the increase in the
table feed rate without any sacrifice on the surface
roughness due to the speed increases.
& For validating optimization process, the final measure-
ment experiment was performed by GA technique.
From this, it can be observed that the validation error is
found to be 3.278%.
& As a result, the developed study is efficient and
sufficient to create the best solutions of optimization
problems in end milling operations.
Acknowledgements The author acknowledges OCAK KALIP A.Ş
for milling of experiments and for surface roughness measurements in
Turkish Standard of Institute.
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