Optimization of energy consumption and surface roughness in slot milling of AISI 6061 T6 using the response surface method

Industrial sectors are looking for reducing their energy consumption due to the concerns on fossil fuel depletion and climate change, along with the increasing energy costs. In recent years, research on optimizing the energy consumption of machining processes has received significant attention as a way to diminish their environmental impact.Milling is a manufacturing process widely used. This paper presents an experimental study to optimize the energy consumption during slot milling of AISI 6061 T6. Surface roughness and specific energy were selected as the key characteristics of the milling process to be studied. The response surface method was employed to generate the regression model for the aforementioned variables. Moreover, the desirability method was used to obtain the values of the cutting parameters that achieved a minimum value of electrical energy consumed during the process by the machine tool and surface roughness.The results obtained showed that the approach presented in this work allowed a reduction of the energy consumed by the machine tool and a significant improvement with regard to the surface roughness. Therefore, the impacts on the environment related to the milling process were reduced without compromising the performance and quality of the final product.