Effects of cutting parameters on surface roughness and hardness in milling of AISI 304 steel

This paper presents an experimental study in dry milling of austenitic AISI 304 stainless steel with hard alloy milling cutters, related to the influence of feed rate and cutting speed on surface roughness and hardness. The results show that machining caused a decrease in hardness of the workpiece with respect to the initial hardness, however, the feed rate and the cutting speed did not show any statistically significant effects on the established level of confidence. The lower surface roughness values were obtained for higher cutting speeds and for smaller feed rates, being the cutting speed the factor of greater contribution. The multiple regression model was computed and the requirements were tested to state that the variables are correlated. Finally, the most appropriate cutting parameters were determined using the contour plot