Comparative Evaluation of Coated Carbide and CBN Inserts Performance in Dry Hard-Turning of AISI 4140 Steel Using Taguchi-Based Grey Relation Analysis

Dry hard-turning is a vital manufacturing method for machining hardened steel due to its low cost, high machining efficiency, and green environmental protection. This study aims to analyze the effect of various machining parameters on cutting forces and surface roughness by employing RSM and ANOVA. In addition, multi-objective optimization (Grey Relation Analysis: GRA) is performed to determine the optimum machining parameters. Dry hard-turning tests were carried out on AISI 4140 steel (50 HRC) using coated carbide and CBN inserts with different nose radii. The results show that the cutting force components are greatly affected by the cutting depth and cutting speed for both cutting inserts. As the level of cutting depth and cutting speed rise, the cutting forces also increase. However, the feed rate was the main factor in surface roughness. A low feed rate and high cutting speed lead to good surface quality. According to the results, CBN inserts exhibited better performance compared to carbide inserts in terms of minimum cutting forces and surface roughness. The lowest radial force (Fx = 55.59 N), tangential force (Fy = 15.09 N), cutting force (Fz = 30.49 N), and best surface quality (Ra = 0.28 µm, Rz = 1.8 µm) were obtained using a CBN tool. Finally, based on the GRA, the (V = 120 m/min, f = 0.04 mm/rev, a = 0.06 mm, r = 0.8 mm) have been chosen as optimum machining parameters to minimize all responses simultaneously in the machining of AISI 4140 steel using both carbide and CBN inserts.