Evaluation of process parameters for lower surface roughness in wood machining by using Taguchi design methodology

This paper presents a study of the Taguchi design method for obtaining lower surface roughness values in terms of process parameters in wood machining. The process parameters considered were feed rate, cutting depth, number of knives, annual ring (earlywood–latewood) and grit number of abrasive. The settings of the process parameters were determined by using Taguchi experimental design method. Orthogonal arrays of Taguchi and the signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio were employed to find the optimal levels and to analyze the effect of process parameters on surface roughness. In addition, the Pareto ANOVA analysis was used in order to measure the influence of each process parameter on surface roughness. The results of Taguchi analysis revealed that the most significant variable on surface roughness of both beech and spruce woods by S/N ratio analysis and Pareto ANOVA analysis is the grit number of abrasive. It was also understood that the Taguchi design technique is very suitable to solve the surface quality problem regarding machining of wood species.