Application of Differential Evolution (DE) Optimization Method in CNC Turning Process for Surface Roughness

This paper presents the optimization of cutting speed, feed rate and depth of cut during CNC turning process of ASTM A36 Mild steel in order to minimize the surface roughness. The default parameters setting in some cases of machining process using conventional optimization technique does not guarantee the best surface roughness quality of the machined part. Therefore, in this study, a non-conventional method, Differential Evolution (DE) optimization, has been developed to address this problem. At first, a regression model using Response Surface Method (RSM) was developed using experimental data. The experiment was designed by using DOE method. Central composite design was applied in Design Expert software for building a second order (quadratic) model for minimum surface roughness. Then, DE algorithm was implemented using Matlab programming. The performances of both conventional and non-conventional techniques were compared through experimental validation tests. The results showed that optimal parameters setting values provided by DE obtained better results than RSM. Thus, in this study, DE can be considered as an efficient and effective technique to achieve a better surface roughness.