SELECTION OF OPTIMAL PROCESS PARAMETERS IN BALL BURNISHING OF TITANIUM ALLOY

The current study deals with the analysis and optimization of the ball burnishing process of titanium alloy (Ti-6Al-4V). The Taguchi method was employed to determine the best combination of ball burnishing process parameters-such as burnishing speed, burnishing feed, burnishing force and number of passes-to minimize surface roughness and maximize hardness. The dry burnishing experiments were planned as per L-9 orthogonal array (OA,) and signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio was applied to measure the proposed performance characteristics. Analysis of means (ANOM) and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were carried out to evaluate the optimal levels and to obtain the level of importance of the burnishing parameters, respectively. Validation tests with optimal levels of parameters were performed to illustrate the effectiveness of Taguchi optimization. The optimization results revealed that burnishing feed and burnishing force are the significant parameters for minimizing the surface roughness, whereas number of passes and burnishing force play important roles in maximizing the hardness.