UNIT-III

MACHINING PROCESS
➢ Overview of various machining processes:

Turning:
Turning is the most important machining process and can produce a wide variety of parts.
Primarily, turning is used to produce parts round in shape by a single point cutting tool on lathe
machines. The cutting tool is fed either linearly in the direction parallel or perpendicular to the
axis of rotation of the work piece, or along a specified path to produce complex rotational
shapes. The primary motion of cutting in turning is the rotation of the work piece, and the
secondary motion of cutting is the feed motion. Figure depicts a typical turning operation in
lathe machine. Different types of lathe machines are available today from general purpose to
specific job oriented special purpose machines. In general, turning refers to a class of processes
carried out on a lathe machine. A brief outline of some the sub-class of turning processes are
presented below.
Straight turning is used to reduce the diameter of a part to a desired dimension (Figure above).
The resulting machined surface is cylindrical. Contour turning and Taper turning (Fig. b,
c) are performed by employing a complex feed motion using special attachments to a single
point turning tool thus creating a contoured shape on the work piece. Facing (Fig. a) is done to
create a smooth, flat face perpendicular to the axis of a cylindrical part in an accurate manner.
The tool is fed radially or axially to create a flat machined surface. Thread cutting (Fig. g) is
possible in lathe machine by advancing the cutting tool at a feed exactly equal to the thread
pitch. The single-point cutting tool cuts in a helical band, which is actually a thread. The tool
point must be ground so that it has the same profile as the thread to be cut. Thread can be both
external and internal types. In form turning (Fig. d), the shape of the cutting tool is imparted
to the work piece by plunging the tool into the work piece. In form turning, the cutting tool can
be very complex and expensive but the feed will remain linear and will not require special
machine tools or devices. Boring (Fig. h) is similar to straight turning operation but differs in
the fact that it can produce internal surface of revolution, which is often considered to be
difficult due to overhanging condition of the tool.

Milling:
Milling is a process of producing flat and complex shapes with the use of multi-point (or multi-
tooth) cutting tool. The axis of rotation of the cutting tool is perpendicular to the direction of
feed, either parallel or perpendicular to the machined surface. Milling is usually an interrupted
cutting operation since the teeth of the milling cutter enter and exit the work piece during each
revolution. This interrupted cutting action subjects the teeth to a cycle of impact force and
thermal shock on every rotation. The tool material and cutter geometry must be designed to
withstand these conditions. Figure below depicts two basic types of milling operations: down
milling, when the cutter rotation is in the same direction as the motion of the work piece being
fed, and up milling, in which the work piece is moving towards the cutter, opposing the cutter
direction of rotation.
In down milling, the cutting force is directed on to the work table, which allows thinner parts
to be machined without susceptibility to breakage. Better surface finish is obtained in down
milling but the stress load on the teeth is abrupt, which may damage the cutter. Backlash
eliminator has to be used in this operation. In up milling, the cutting action tends to lift the
work piece and hence, Proper fixture is required in this operation.

Depending on the orientation and geometry of the milling tool, several varieties of milling
operations are possible. In peripheral milling, also referred to as plain milling, the axis of the
cutter is parallel to the surface being machined, and the operation is performed by the cutting
edges on the outside periphery of the tool. The primary motion is the rotation of the tool. The
feed is imparted to the work piece. In face milling, the tool is perpendicular to the machined
surface. The tool axis is vertical, and machining is performed by the teeth on both the end and
the periphery of the face-milling tool. Also, up and down types of milling are available,
depending on directions of the tool rotation and feed. End milling is used to produce pockets,
key holes by using a tool referred to as the end mill, has a diameter less than the work piece
width. In form milling, the cutting edges of the peripheral tool (also referred to as form cutter)
have a special profile that is imparted to the work piece. Tools with various profiles are also
available to cut different two-dimensional surfaces. One important application of form milling
is in gear manufacturing. Surface contouring, is an operation performed by computer controlled
milling machines in which a ball-end mill is fed back and forth across the work piece along a
curvilinear path at close intervals to produce complex three-dimensional surfaces.
Drilling:
Drilling is a process of producing round holes in a solid material or enlarging existing holes
with the use of multi-point cutting tools called drills or drill bits. Various cutting tools are
available for drilling, but the most common is the twist drill. A variety of drilling processes
(Figure) are available to serve different purposes. Drilling is used to drill a round blind or
through hole in a solid material. If the hole is larger than ~30 mm, a smaller pilot hole is drilled
before core drilling the final one. For holes larger than ~50 mm, three-step drilling is
recommended. Core drilling is used to increase the diameter of an existing hole. Step drilling
is used to drill a stepped (multi-diameter) hole in a solid material. Counter boring provides a
stepped hole again but with flat and perpendicular relative to hole axis face. The hole is used
to seat internal hexagonal bolt heads. Countersinking is similar to counter boring, except that
the step is conical for flat head screws. Reaming operation is usually meant to slightly increase
the size and to provide a better tolerance and surface finish of an initially drilled hole. The tool
is called reamer. Center drilling is used to drill a starting hole to precisely define the location
for subsequent drilling operation.

Gun drilling is a specific operation to drill holes with very large length-to-diameter ratio up to
300.
Planing, Shaping and Broaching:
Planing and shaping are similar operations, which differ only in the kinematics of the process.
Planing is a machining operation in which the primary cutting motion is performed by the work
piece and feed motion is imparted to the cutting tool. In shaping, the primary motion is
performed by the tool, and feed by the work piece.

Broaching is a machining operation that involves the linear movement of a muti-point cutting
tool (referred to as broach) relative to the work piece in the direction of the tool axis. The shape
of the machined surface is determined by the contour of the final cutting edges on the broach.
Broaching is a highly productive method of machining with advantages like good surface
finish, close tolerances, and the variety of possible machined surface shapes some of them can
only be produced by broaching. Owing to the complicated geometry of the broach, the tooling
is expensive. The broaching tools cannot be reground and have to be replaced when wear
becomes excessive. Broaching is a typical mass production operation.

Grinding:
Grinding is the most popular form of abrasive machining. It involves an abrasive tool
consisting of grain of hard materials which are forced to rub against the work piece removing
a very small amount of material. Due to the random orientation of grains and some
uncontrollable cutting condition, the selection of proper parameters often becomes difficult.
Grinding can be performed to produce flat as well as cylindrical (both external and internal)
surface efficiently. Grinding is applied when the material is too hard to be machined
economically or when tolerances required are very tight. Grinding can produce flatness
tolerances of less than ±0.0025 mm (±0.0001 in) on a 127 x 127 mm (5 x 5 in) steel surface if
the surface is adequately supported. In recent times, enormous amount of research work has
made grinding process very economical and efficient for removing a large thickness of material
also. The major advantages of grinding process include dimensional accuracy, good surface
finish, good form and locational accuracy applicable to both hardened and unhardened
material.

Abrasive Finishing:
As the name indicates, these groups of operations are used to achieve superior surface finish
up to mirror-like finishing and very close dimensional precision. The finishing operations are
assigned as the last operations in typical single part production cycle usually after the
conventional or abrasive machining operations. Honing, Lapping, Super finishing, Polishing
process comes under this group.
Non-Traditional Machining Processes:
To distinguish the non-traditional machining (NTM) processes from the traditional or
conventional ones, it is necessary to understand the differences and the similar characteristics
between conventional machining processes and NTM processes. The conventional processes
generally involve a wedge-shaped cutting tool to remove material in the form of chip by
causing plastic deformation and shear failure. The cutting tool has to be harder than the work
piece at room temperature as well as under machining conditions. However, the non-traditional
processes commonly embody by the following characteristics: Material removal may occur
with or without the conventional chip formation, A physical cutting tool may not always be
present [e.g. a typical laser beam is used for machining in laser jet machining process]. The
tool material needs not be harder than the work piece material. Majority of the non-traditional
machining processes do not necessarily use mechanical energy and rather different other forms
of energy for material removal. Some commonly used non-traditional machining processes are
described below.
Abrasive Jet Machining:
Abrasive jet machining process involves impinging of fine abrasive particles on the work
material at a very high velocity causing small fracture on the workpiece surface on impact.
 A gas stream carries both the abrasive
particles and the fractured particles away.
The jet velocity is in the range of 150-300
m/s and the applied pressure can range
from two to ten times of atmospheric
pressure. Abrasive Jet Machining (AJM)
is used for deburring, etching, and
cleaning of hard and brittle metals, alloys,
and non-metallic materials.

Ultrasonic Machining:
In ultrasonic machining, a tool of desired shape vibrates at an ultrasonic frequency (19 ~ 25
kHz) with an amplitude of around 15 – 50 μm over the work piece.
The tool is pressed downward with a feed force and
the machining zone is flooded with hard abrasive
particles generally in the form of water based slurry.
As the tool vibrates at ultrasonic frequency, the
abrasive particle removes material by indentation.
This process can be used for very accurate machining
of hard and brittle metallic alloys, semiconductors,
glass, ceramics, carbides, wire drawing and punching
dies, etc.

Water Jet and Abrasive Water Jet Machining:

Water Jet Machining uses a fine, high-pressure, high
velocity (faster than the speed of sound) stream of water
directed at the work surface to cause material removal.
The cutting ability of water jet machining can be
improved drastically by adding hard and sharp abrasive
particles into the water jet and is termed as Abrasive
Water Jet machining. This jet is sprayed over the work
surface with very high pressure causing removal of
material by the indentation action. Typical application of
these processes includes paint removal, cleaning and
cutting of sheets especially of softer materials, cutting of
frozen meat, dismantling of nuclear plant parts, etc.

Electro Chemical Machining:

Electro chemical machining can be thought of a controlled anodic dissolution at atomic level
of an electrically conductive work piece due to the flow of high current at relatively low
potential difference. The machining process is attained by a shaped tool. Both the work piece
 and the tool are submerged into a
suitable electrolyte which is often the
water based neutral salt solution. In
principle, it can be considered to be
opposite of electrochemical coating
process. As the tool does not contact the
work piece, there is no need to use
expensive alloys to make the tool
tougher or harder than the work piece,
which is a distinct advantage.
There is less tool wear, and less heat and stresses are produced during this process. High tooling
costs and risk of corrosion due to electrolyte are some disadvantages of this process.
Electro Discharge Machining:
Electro Discharge Machining (EDM) is an electro-thermal non-traditional machining process,
where electrical energy is used to generate electrical spark between the tool and the work piece.
The material removal occurs primarily by vaporization of work piece material due to high
thermal energy of the spark. Electro-discharge machining is mainly used to machine difficult-
to-machine materials and high strength and temperature resistant alloys. Difficult geometries
in small batches or even on job-shop basis can be produced using this process. The only
important point is that the work piece material has to be electrically conductive. Some of the
major advantages of this process are as follows:
Complex shapes that are difficult to
machine with conventional processes,
can be done easily by electro
discharge machining process,
Extremely hard material can be
machined to close tolerances, Very
small work pieces can be handled
with sufficient ease, and A good
surface finish can be obtained.
When the tool in electro discharge machining process is replaced by a continuously moving
small diameter electrically conducting wire, the same is referred to as wire- electro discharge
machining process that is widely used to cut a narrow kerf in the work piece.
Laser and Electron Beam Machining:
Laser beam machining (LBM) uses the light energy from a laser to remove material by
vaporization and ablation whereas electron beam machining (EBM) uses a high-velocity stream
of electrons focused on the work piece surface to remove material by melting and vaporization.
The types of lasers used in laser beam machining process include carbon dioxide (CO2) gas
lasers, solid lasers (Nd-YAG), fiber lasers and eximer lasers (especially for micro-level
machining) although the CO2 based gas lasers are primarily used for machining. The light
produced by the laser has significantly less power than a normal white light, but it can be
focused optically to deliver a very high density source and when irradiated on a surface can
result in melting and vaporization of workpiece material in a very localized area causing
material removal.

In electron beam machining process, the electron beam gun generates a continuous stream of
electrons that are focused through an electromagnetic lens on the work surface. The electrons
are accelerated with voltages of approximately 1,50,000 V to create electron velocities over
200,000 km/s. On impinging the surface, the kinetic energy of the electrons is converted into
thermal energy of extremely high density, which vaporizes the material in a much localized
area. Electron beam machining must be carried out in a vacuum chamber to eliminate collision
of the electrons with gas molecules.
➢ General design rules for machining:
1. Avoid machining
Machining operations increase the cost of the component. The components made by casting or
forming methods are usually cheaper. Therefore, as far as possible the designer should avoid
machined surfaces.
2. Select materials with good machinability.
3. Machined features such as sharp corners, edges, and points should be avoided because they
are difficult to machine, creates burrs and are dangerous to handle, causes stress concentration.
4. Design machined parts with features that can be produced in a minimum number of setups.

5. Use stock dimensions

The raw materials like bars are available in standard sizes. Using stock dimensions eliminates
machining operations. For example, a hexagonal bar can be used for a bolt and only a
threaded portion can be machined. This will eliminate the machining of hexagonal surfaces.

6. Avoid shoulders and undercuts

Shoulders and undercuts usually involve separate operations and separate tools, which
increases the cost of machining.
7. Design Rigid Parts
Any machining operations such as turning or shaping induces cutting forces on the
components. The component should be rigid enough to withstand these forces. In this respect,
components with thin walls or webs should be avoided.
8. Avoid hard materials
Hard materials are difficult to machine. They should be avoided unless such properties are
essential for the functional requirement of the product.
9. Avoid unusual hole sizes, threads, and features requiring special form tools.
10. Reduce volume of material to be removed thus reducing machining time.
11. Use large tolerances and surface roughness that will allow higher material removal rate or
avoid finish cut.
12. Design the part in such a way that reduces setup, reorientation time thus reducing total
operation time.
13. Try to design the component so that it can be machined on one machine tool only.
14. Try to design the component so that machining is not needed on the unexposed surfaces of
the workpiece when the component is gripped in the work-holding device.
15. Verify that when features are to be machined, the tool, toolholder, work, and work-holding
device will not interfere with one another.
➢ Dimensional tolerance and surface roughness:
ACCURACY AND SURFACE FINISH:
A designer will not generally want to specify an accurate surface with a rough finish or an
inaccurate surface with a smooth finish. When determining the accuracy and finish of machined
surfaces, it is necessary to take into account the function intended for the machined surface.
The specification of too-close tolerances or too-smooth surfaces is one of the major ways a
designer can add unnecessarily to manufacturing costs. Such specifications could, for example,
necessitate a finishing process, such as cylindrical grinding after rough turning, where an
adequate accuracy and finish might have been possible using the lathe that performed the
rough-turning operation. Thus, the designer should specify the widest tolerances and roughest
surface that will give acceptable performance for operating surfaces.
As a guide to the difficulty of machining to within required tolerances it can be stated that
1. Tolerances from 0.127 to 0.25mm (0.005 to 0.01 in.) are readily obtained.
2. Tolerances from 0.025 to 0.05mm (0.001 to 0.002 in.) are slightly more difficult to obtain
and will increase production costs.
3. Tolerances 0.0127mm (0.0005 in.) or smaller require good equipment and skilled operators
and add significantly to production costs.
Figure below illustrates the general range of surface finish that can be obtained in different
operations. It can be seen that any surface with a specified surface finish of 1 [µm (40 µin.)
arithmetical mean or better will generally require separate finishing operations, which
substantially increases costs. Even when the surface can be finished on the one machine, a
smoother surface requirement will mean increased costs.

The machining time (and hence the machining cost) is inversely proportional to the square root
of the surface finish. Below figure shows the relationship between production cost and surface
finish for a typical turning operation.
It can be seen that the costs rise
rapidly when low values of surface
finish are specified. For many
applications, a smooth, accurate
surface is essential. This smooth,
accurate surface can most
frequently be provided by finish
grinding. When specifying finish
grinding, the designer should take
into account the accessibility of the
surfaces to be ground. In general,
surfaces to be finish-ground
should be raised and should never
intersect to form internal corners.

Fig: Effect of specified surface roughness on production

costs in a turning operation
The statement "Design rules for machining are intended to improve machined part
quality and reduce machining costs" is justified for several reasons.
Firstly, design rules for machining are based on principles of good design and manufacturing
practices. These rules are developed by experts in the field who have extensive knowledge and
experience in designing and machining parts. The purpose of these rules is to provide
guidelines for designers to follow that will result in parts that are easy to manufacture and
produce high-quality results.
Secondly, following design rules for machining can lead to significant cost savings. Machining
costs can be reduced by minimizing the amount of material that needs to be removed, reducing
the number of machining operations required, and improving the efficiency of the machining
process. By following design rules, designers can ensure that parts are designed with these
considerations in mind, which can lead to significant cost savings in the manufacturing process.
Finally, design rules for machining can also improve the quality of machined parts. By
following these rules, designers can ensure that parts are designed with features that can be
easily machined and that the machining process will result in parts that meet the desired
tolerances and surface finish requirements. This can help to reduce the number of rejects and
rework required, resulting in higher quality parts and improved productivity.
In conclusion, design rules for machining are essential guidelines that help to improve the
quality of machined parts while reducing manufacturing costs. By following these rules,
designers can ensure that parts are designed with considerations for manufacturability,
resulting in a more efficient and cost-effective manufacturing process.