Journal of Materials Processing Technology 95 (1999) 90±96

Optimization of turning operations with multiple

performance characteristics
C.Y. Niana, W.H. Yangb, Y.S. Tarngb,*
a
Department of Automatic Engineering, Fushin Institute of Technology, I-Lan, Touchen 261, Taiwan
b
Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei, 106, Taiwan

Received 4 April 1998

Abstract

The optimization of turning operations based on the Taguchi method with multiple performance characteristics is proposed in this paper.
The orthogonal array, multi-response signal-to-noise ratio, and analysis of variance are employed to study the performance characteristics
in turning operations. Three cutting parameters namely, cutting speed, feed rate, and depth of cut, are optimized with considerations of
multiple performance characteristics including tool life, cutting force, and surface ®nish. Experimental results are provided to illustrate the
effectiveness of this approach. # 1999 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Analysis of variance; Orthogonal array; Cutting speed; Feed rate; Depth of cut; Tool life; Cutting force; Surface ®nish

1. Introduction formulated to associate the cutting parameters with machin-

The Taguchi method [1±3] is a systematic application of
design and analysis of experiments for the purpose of
designing and improving product quality. In recent years,
the Taguchi method has become a powerful tool for improv-
ing productivity during research and development so that
high quality products can be produced quickly and at low
cost. A lot of applications of the Taguchi method have been
reported in a world-wide range of industries and national-
ities [4]. This is because the Taguchi method is universally
applicable to all engineering ®elds. However, most pub-
lished Taguchi applications to date have been concerned
with the optimization of a single performance characteristic.
Handling the more demanding multiple performance char-
acteristics is seldom considered in the literature [5]. In this
paper, the application of the parameter design of the Taguchi
method for improving the multiple performance character-
istics in turning operations is reported.
In the past, several optimization methods for turning
operations have been documented [6±9]. To determine the
optimal cutting parameters, reliable mathematical models
based on a large amount of machining data have to be
*Corresponding author. Tel.: +886-2-2737-6456; fax: +886-2-2737-
6460
E-mail address: ystarng@mail.ntust.edu.tw (Y.S. Tarng)
ing performance. Sophisticated optimization algorithms are
then applied to the mathematical models for solving the
optimal cutting parameters. It is shown by this study that the
use of the parameter design of the Taguchi method can
greatly simplify the optimization procedure for determining
the optimal cutting parameters in turning operations. As a
result, from the practical viewpoint, the parameter design of
the Taguchi method seems to be the most suitable approach
to determine the optimal cutting parameters for turning
operations in a machine shop.
The paper is organized in the following manner. An
overview of the parameter design based on the Taguchi
method is given ®rst. Then, the parameter design with the
multiple performance characteristics is introduced. The
experimental details of using the parameter design to deter-
mine and analyze the optimal cutting parameters in turning
operations is described next. Finally, the paper concludes
with a summary of this study.
2. Parameter design based on the Taguchi method
The objective of the parameter design [10] is to optimize
the settings of the process parameter values for improving
performance characteristics and to identify the product
parameter values under the optimal process parameter

0924-0136/99/$ ± see front matter # 1999 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 9 2 4 - 0 1 3 6 ( 9 9 ) 0 0 2 7 1 - X
 C.Y. Nian et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 95 (1999) 90±96
values. In addition, it is expected that the optimal process
parameter values obtained from the parameter design are
insensitive to the variation of environmental conditions and
other noise factors. Therefore, the parameter design is the
key step in the Taguchi method to achieving high quality
without increasing cost.
Basically, classical parameter design, developed by Fisher
[11], is complex and not easy to use. Especially, a large
number of experiments have to be carried out when the
number of the process parameters increases. To solve this
task, the Taguchi method uses a special design of orthogonal
arrays to study the entire parameter space with a small
number of experiments only. A loss function is then de®ned
to calculate the deviation between the experimental value
and the desired value. Taguchi recommends the use of the
loss function to measure the performance characteristic
deviating from the desired value. The value of the loss
function is further transformed into a signal-to-noise (S/
N) ratio. Usually, there are three categories of the perfor-
mance characteristic in the analysis of the S/N ratio, that is,
the lower-the-better, the higher-the-better, and the nominal-
the-better. The S/N ratio for each level of process parameters
is computed based on the S/N analysis. Regardless of the
category of the performance characteristic, the larger S/N
ratio corresponds to the better performance characteristic.
Therefore, the optimal level of the process parameters is the
level with the highest S/N ratio. Furthermore, a statistical
analysis of variance (ANOVA) is performed to see which
process parameters are statistically signi®cant. With the S/N
and ANOVA analyses, the optimal combination of the
process parameters can be predicted. Finally, a con®rmation
experiment is conducted to verify the optimal process
parameters obtained from the parameter design. In this
paper, the cutting parameter design by the Taguchi method
is adopted to obtain optimal machining performance in
turning.
3. Parameter design with multiple performance
characteristics
As mentioned earlier, most published Taguchi applica-
tions to date have been concerned with the optimization of a
single performance characteristic. Handling the more
demanding multiple performance characteristics is seldom
considered in the literature [5]. The usual recommendation
for the optimization of a process with multiple performance
characteristics is left to engineering judgement and veri®ed
by con®rmation experiments [3]. In this paper, an attempt to
deal with the optimization of a turning operation with
multiple performance characteristics is investigated.
Basically, several problems are encountered in the opti-
mization of a process with multiple performance character-
istics. For example, each performance characteristic may
belong to a different category in the analysis of the S/N ratio.
The engineering unit for describing each performance char-
91
acteristic may not be the same. The importance of each
performance characteristic in the overall performance eva-
luation may be different. As a result, the application of the
parameter design of the Taguchi method in a process with
multiple performance characteristics cannot be straightfor-
ward. To solve these problems, the loss function correspond-
ing to each performance characteristic is ®rst normalized,
i.e,
Lij
Sij ˆ ; (1)
Li
where Sij is the normalized loss function for the ith perfor-
mance characteristic in the jth experiment, Lij the loss
function for the ith performance characteristic in the jth
experiment and Li is the average loss function for the ith
performance characteristic.
A weighting method is then used to determine the impor-
tance of each normalized loss function. Based on the
weighting method, the total loss function TLj in the jth
experiment is de®ned as
X
m
TLj ˆ wi Sij ; (2)
iˆ1
where wi is the weighting factor for the ith performance
characteristic and m is the number of performance char-
acteristics.
The total loss function is further transformed into a multi-
response S/N ratio. In the Taguchi method, the S/N ratio is
used to measure the performance characteristic deviating
from the desired value. Therefore, the multi-response S/N
ratio j in the jth experiment can be expressed as
j ˆ ÿ10 log…TLj †: (3)
Based on the discussion of Sections 2 and 3, the use of the
parameter design of the Taguchi method to optimize a
process with multiple performance characteristics includes
the following steps: (1) identify the performance character-
istics and select process parameters to be evaluated; (2)
determine the number of levels for the process parameters
and possible interactions between the process parameters;
(3) select the appropriate orthogonal array and assignment of
process parameters to the orthogonal array; (4) conduct the
experiments based on the arrangement of the orthogonal
array; (5) calculate the total loss function and the multi-
response S/N ratio; (6) analyze the experimental results
using the multi-response S/N ratio and ANOVA; (7) select
the optimal levels of process parameters; and (8) verify the
optimal process parameters through the con®rmation experi-
ment.
4. Turning process experiments
Turning is a widely used machining process in which a
single-point cutting tool removes material from the surface
of a rotating cylindrical workpiece. Three cutting para-
92 C.Y. Nian et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 95 (1999) 90±96
meters, i.e., cutting speed, feed rate, and depth of cut, must
be determined in a turning operation. Common methods of
evaluating machining performance in a turning operation are
based on the following performance characteristics: tool life,
cutting force, and surface roughness. Basically, tool life,
cutting force, and surface roughness are strongly correlated
with cutting parameters such as cutting speed, feed rate, and
depth of cut [12]. Proper selection of the cutting parameters
can obtain a longer tool life, a lower cutting force, and better
surface roughness. Hence, optimization of the cutting para-
meters based on the parameter design of the Taguchi method
is adopted in this paper to improve the tool life, cutting force,
and surface roughness in a turning operation.
4.1. Selection of cutting parameters and their levels
The cutting experiments were carried out on an engine
lathe using tungsten carbide with the grade of P-10 for
the machining of S45C steel bars. The initial cutting para-
meters were as follows: cutting speed of 210 m/min, a feed
rate of 0.20 mm/rev, and a depth of cut of 1.1 mm. The
feasible range for the cutting parameters was recommended
by a machining handbook, i.e., cutting speed in the range
135±285 m/min, feed rate in the range 0.08±0.32 mm/rev,
and depth of cut in the range 0.6±1.6 mm. Therefore, three
levels of the cutting parameters were selected as shown in
Table 1.
4.2. Machining performance measure
Tool life is de®ned as the period of cutting time at which
the average ¯ank wear land VB of the tool is equal to 0.3 mm
or the maximum ¯ank wear land VBmax is equal to 0.6 mm.
This tool life criterion is recommended by the International
Standard Organization (ISO). In the experiments, the ¯ank
wear land was measured by using a toolmaker's microscope
(Isoma). The cutting force acting on the cutting tool in the X,
Y, and Z directions was measured by a three-component
piezo-electric dynamometer (Kistler 5257A) under the tool
holder. The resultant cutting force is then calculated to
evaluate the machining performance in this study. The
machined surface roughness was measured by a pro®le
meter (3D-Hommelewerk). The average surface roughness
Ra, which is the most widely used surface ®nish parameter in
industry, is selected in this study, being the arithmetic
average of the absolute value of the heights of roughness
Table 1
Cutting parameters and their levels
Symbol Cutting Unit Level 1 Level 2
parameter
A Cutting speed m/min 135 210a
B Feed rate mm/rev 0.08 0.20a
C Depth of cut mm 0.6 1.1a
a
Initial cutting parameters.
irregularities from the mean value measured within the
sampling length of 8 mm.
5. Determination of optimal cutting parameters
In this section, the use of an orthogonal array to reduce
the number of cutting experiments for determining the
optimal cutting parameters is reported. Results of the cutting
experiments are studied by using the S/N and ANOVA
analyses. Based on the results of the S/N and ANOVA
analyses, optimal cutting parameters with considerations
of the multiple performance characteristics including tool
life, cutting force, and surface roughness are obtained and
veri®ed.
5.1. Orthogonal array experiment
To select an appropriate orthogonal array for experiments,
the total degrees of freedom need to be computed. The
degrees of freedom are de®ned as the number of compar-
isons between process parameters that need to be made to
determine which level is better and speci®cally how much
better it is. For example, a three-level process parameter
counts for two degrees of freedom. The degrees of freedom
associated with interaction between two process parameters
are given by the product of the degrees of freedom for the
two process parameters. In the present study, the interaction
between the cutting parameters is neglected. Therefore,
there are six degrees of freedom owing to the three cutting
parameters in turning operations.
Once the degrees of freedom required are known, the next
step is to select an appropriate orthogonal array to ®t the
speci®c task. Basically, the degrees of freedom for the
orthogonal array should be greater than or at least equal
to those for the process parameters. In this study, an L9
orthogonal array with four columns and nine rows was used.
This array has eight degrees of freedom and it can handle
three-level process parameters. Each cutting parameter is
assigned to a column and nine cutting parameter combina-
tions are available. Therefore, only nine experiments are
required to study the entire parameter space using the L9
orthogonal array. The experimental layout for the three
cutting parameters using the L9 orthogonal array is shown
in Table 2. Since the L9 orthogonal array has four columns,
one column of the array is left empty for the error of
experiments. Orthogonality is not lost by letting one column
of the array remain empty. Table 3 shows the experimental
results of tool life, cutting force, and surface roughness.
Level 3 5.2. Analysis of the multi-response signal-to-noise (S/N)
ratio
285
0.32 As mentioned earlier, there are three categories of per-
1.6 formance characteristics, i.e., the lower-the-better, the
higher-the-better, and the nominal-the-better. To obtain
 C.Y. Nian et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 95 (1999) 90±96 93

Table 2 Table 4
Experimental layout using an L9 orthogonal array Multi-response signal-to-noise ratio with different weighting factors

Experiment Cutting parameter level Experiment number Multi-response S/N Ratio (dB)
number
A B C D Case 1 Case 2

Cutting speed Feed rate Depth of cut Error w1ˆ5, w2ˆ2, w3ˆ3 w1ˆ3, w2ˆ5, w3ˆ2

1 1 1 1 1 1.807 0.194
2 1 2 2 2 ÿ4.464 ÿ7.752
3 1 3 3 3 ÿ11.715 ÿ13.199
4 2 1 3 4 ÿ4.840 ÿ6.696
5 2 2 1 5 ÿ5.606 ÿ5.457
6 2 3 2 6 ÿ10.501 ÿ11.102
7 3 1 2 7 ÿ4.351 ÿ4.037
8 3 2 3 8 ÿ8.703 ÿ10.173
9 3 3 1 9 ÿ16.402 ÿ14.549

optimal machining performance, the higher-the-better per-
formance characteristic for tool life must be taken. On the
other hand, the lower-the-better performance characteristic
for cutting force and surface roughness should be taken for
obtaining optimal machining performance. For the higher-
the-better performance characteristic, the loss function can
be expressed as
1X n
1
Lij ˆ
n kˆ1 y2ijk
where Lij is the loss function of the ith performance char-
acteristic in the jth experiment, n the number of tests, and yijk
is the experimental value of the ith performance character-
istic in the jth experiment at the kth test.
The loss function Lij for the lower-the-better performance
characteristic can be expressed as
case 2 is changed to cutting force (w1ˆ5), then tool life
(w2ˆ3), and then surface roughness (w3ˆ2). Since the
experimental design (Table 2) is orthogonal, it is then
possible to separate out the effect of each cutting parameter
at different levels. For example, the mean of the multi-
response S/N ratio for the cutting speed at level 1, 2, and 3
can be calculated by averaging the multi-response S/N ratios
for the experiments 1±3, 4±6, and 7±9, respectively
(4) (Table 2). The mean of the multi-response S/N ratio for
each level of the other cutting parameters can be computed
in a similar manner. The mean of the multi-response S/N
ratio for each level of the cutting parameters is summarized
and it is called the multi-response S/N table (Tables 5 and 6).
In addition, the total mean of the multi-response S/N ratio
for the nine experiments is also calculated and listed in
Tables 5 and 6. Figs. 1 and 2 show the multi-response S/N

1X n
Lij ˆ y2 : (5) Table 5
n kˆ1 ijk
Multi-response signal-to-noise table for w1ˆ5, w2ˆ2, w3ˆ3
Table 4 shows the multi-response S/N ratio with different Symbol Cutting Mean multi-response S/N ratio (dB)
combinations of the weighting factors, calculated by parameter
Eq. (1)±Eq. (5). For case 1, the importance order of the Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Max±min
performance characteristics is tool life (w1ˆ5), then surface A Cutting speed ÿ4.79 ÿ6.98 ÿ9.82 5.03
roughness (w2ˆ3), and then cutting force (w3ˆ2). However, B Feed rate ÿ2.46 ÿ6.26 ÿ12.87 10.41
the importance order of the performance characteristics for C Depth of cut ÿ6.73 ÿ6.44 ÿ8.42 1.98

Total mean multi-response S/N ratioˆÿ7.20 dB

Table 3
Experimental results for tool life, cutting force, and surface roughness

Experiment Tool Cutting Surface Table 6

number life (s) force (N) roughness (mm) Multi-response signal-to-noise table for w1ˆ3, w2ˆ5, w3ˆ2
1 2645 263 1.239 Symbol Cutting Mean multi-response S/N ratio (dB)
2 2060 704 1.921 parameter
3 1733 1198 9.443 Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Max-min
4 1310 593 2.641
5 1198 389 4.513 A Cutting speed ÿ6.84 ÿ7.75 ÿ9.59 2.74
6 734 854 7.490 B Feed rate ÿ3.51 ÿ7.72 ÿ12.95 9.44
7 854 335 0.908 C Depth of cut ÿ6.60 ÿ7.55 ÿ10.02 3.42
8 765 857 4.184
9 216 464 9.695 Total mean multi-response S/N ratioˆÿ8.06 dB
94 C.Y. Nian et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 95 (1999) 90±96

Fig. 1. Multi-response signal-to-noise graph for w1ˆ5, w2ˆ2, and w3ˆ3. Fig. 2. Multi-response signal-to-noise graph for w1ˆ3, w2ˆ5, and w3ˆ2.

graph for cases 1 and 2. As shown in Eq. (1)±Eq. (5),
regardless of the lower-the-better or the higher-the-better
performance characteristic, the larger is the multi-response
S/N ratio, the smaller is the variance of performance char-
acteristics around the desired value. However, the relative
importance amongst the cutting parameters for the multiple
performance characteristics still needs to be known so that
the optimal combinations of the cutting parameter levels can
be determined more accurately. This will be discussed in
Section 5.3 using ANOVA.
5.3. Analysis of variance
The purpose of the ANOVA is to investigate which
of the process parameters signi®cantly affect the perfor-
mance characteristics. This is accomplished by separating
the total variability of the multi-response S/N ratios, which
is measured by the sum of the squared deviations from
the total mean of the multi-response S/N ratio, into con-
tributions by each of the process parameters and the error.
First, the total sum of the squared deviations SST from the
total mean of the multi-response S/N ratio m can be
calculated as
X
p found that the feed rate and cutting speed are the signi®cant
SST ˆ …j ÿ m †2 ;
jˆ1
where p is the number of experiments in the orthogonal array
and j is the mean of the multi-response S/N ratio for the jth
experiment.
The total sum of the squared deviations SST is decom-
posed into two sources: the sum of the squared deviations
SSd due to each process parameter and the sum of the
squared error SSe. The percentage contribution  by each
of the process parameters in the total sum of the squared
deviations SST can then be calculated.
Statistically, there is a tool called the F-test named after
Fisher [11] to see which process parameters have a sig-
ni®cant effect on the performance characteristic. In perform-
ing the F-test, the mean of the squared deviations SSm due to
each process parameter needs to be calculated. The mean of
the squared deviations SSm is equal to the sum of the squared
deviations SSd divided by the number of degrees of freedom
associated with the process parameter. Then, the F value for
each process parameter is simply a ratio of the mean of the
squared deviations SSm to the mean of the squared error SSe.
Usually, the larger the F value, the greater the effect on the
performance characteristic due to the change of the process
parameter.
Table 7 shows the results of ANOVA for case 1. It can be
(6) cutting parameters for affecting the multiple performance
characteristics. The change of the depth of cut in the range

Table 7
Results of the analysis of variance for w1ˆ5, w2ˆ2, w3ˆ3

Symbol Cutting parameter Degrees of freedom Sum of squares Mean square F Contribution (%)

A Cutting speed 2 38.13 19.06 3.31 17.10

B Feed rate 2 166.55 83.28 14.47 74.67
C Depth of cut 2 6.85 3.43 0.06 3.07

Error 2 11.51 5.75 5.16

Total 8 223.04 100

 C.Y. Nian et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 95 (1999) 90±96 95

Table 8
Results of the analysis of variance for w1ˆ3, w2ˆ5, w3ˆ2

Symbol Cutting parameter Degrees of freedom Sum of squares Mean square F Contribution (%)

A Cutting speed 2 11.73 5.86 1.07 6.68

B Feed rate 2 134.12 67.06 12.26 76.43
C Depth of cut 2 18.69 9.35 1.71 10.65

Error 2 10.94 5.47 6.23

Total 8 223.04 100

given by Table 1 has an insigni®cant effect on the de®ned cutting parameters is 4.91 dB. The improvement of the S/N
multiple performance characteristics of case 1. Therefore, ratio for the individual performance characteristic is shown
based on the S/N and ANOVA analyses, the optimal cutting in Table 10. Based on the result of the con®rmation test, the
parameters for case 1 are the cutting speed at level 1, the feed tool life is increased 2.46 times, the cutting force is
rate at level 1, and the depth of cut at level 2. Table 8 shows decreased by 1.37 times, and surface roughness is decreased
the results of ANOVA for case 2. Feed rate is the most by 2.54 times. Therefore, the machining performance for
signi®cant cutting parameter for affecting the multiple case 1 is improved signi®cantly. Table 11 shows the results
performance characteristic of case 2. The optimal cutting of the con®rmation experiment using the optimal cutting
parameters for case 2 are the cutting speed at level 1, the feed parameters of case 2. The predicted machining performance
rate at level 1, and the depth of cut at level 1. is consistent with the actual machining performance. For
individual performance characteristic, the increase of the
5.4. Confirmation tests S/N ratio from the initial cutting parameters to the optimal
cutting parameters is shown in Table 12. The cutting force is
Once the optimal level of the process parameters is decreased by 2.37 times because the cutting force is the
selected, the ®nal step is to predict and verify the improve- largest weighting factor for the multiple performance char-
ment of the performance characteristic using the optimal acteristics of case 2. In addition, the tool life is increased by
level of the process parameters. The estimated S/N ratio ^ 2.50 times, and the surface roughness is decreased by 2.22
using the optimal level of the process parameters can be times. Once again, the machining performance of case 2 is
calculated as improved greatly. In the foregoing discussion, the experi-
Xq mental results con®rm the prior parameter design for the
^ ˆ m ‡ …i ÿ m †; (7) optimal cutting parameters with the multiple performance
iˆ1 characteristics in turning operations.
where m is the total mean of the multi-response S/N ratio, i
the mean of the multi-response S/N ratio at the optimal level, Table 10
and q is the number of the process parameters that signi®- Improvement of the individual signal-to-noise ratio for w1ˆ5, w2ˆ2, w3ˆ3
cantly affect the multiple performance characteristics.
Tool Cutting Surface
The estimated multi-response S/N ratio using the optimal
life (dB) force (dB) roughness (dB)
cutting parameters can then be obtained. Table 9 shows the
results of the con®rmation experiment using the optimal Initial cutting parameters 60.50 ÿ55.88 ÿ8.80
(A2B2C2)
cutting parameters of case 1. Good agreement between the
Optimal cutting parameters 68.31 ÿ53.14 ÿ0.70
predicted machining performance and actual machining (A1B1C2)
performance is shown. The increase of the multi-response Improvement S/N ratio 7.81 2.73 8.10
S/N ratio from the initial cutting parameters to the optimal
Table 11
Table 9 Results of the confirmation experiment for w1ˆ3, w2ˆ5, w3ˆ2
Results of the confirmation experiment for w1ˆ5, w2ˆ2, w3ˆ3
Initial cutting Optimal cutting parameters
Initial cutting Optimal cutting parameters parameters
parameters Predication Experiment
Prediction Experiment
Level A2B2C2 A1B1C1 A1B1C1
Level A2B2C2 A1B1C2 A1B1C2 Tool life (s) 1059 2645
Tool life (s) 1059 2604 Cutting force (N) 622 263
Cutting force (N) 622 454 Surface roughness (mm) 2.754 1.239
Surface roughness (mm) 2.754 1.084 S/N ratio (dB) ÿ7.30 0.07 0.19
S/N ratio (dB) ÿ5.73 ÿ0.06 ÿ0.82
Improvement multi-response S/N ratioˆ4.91 dB Improvement multi-response S/N ratioˆ7.49 dB
96 C.Y. Nian et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 95 (1999) 90±96

Table 12 References
Improvement of the individual signal-to-noise ratio for w1ˆ3, w2ˆ5, w3ˆ2

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Acknowledgements

Financial support from the National Science Council of

the Republic of China, Taiwan, under grant number NSC87-
2216-E011-025 is acknowledged.