Machining Studies on AISI 4140 Steel as Automotive Axle and Drive Shafts in Automobile via Numerical Simulation

This study focuses on machining automobile parts such as drive shafts and axles made of low alloy steel AISI 4140. The influence of cutting inserts geometrical parameters, viz., relief angle (RIA), rake angle (RAA), and nose radius (NA) are studied by designing experiments using Taguchi’s methodology. Numerical simulation is conducted using DEFORM-2D; a suitable L₉ orthogonal array (OA) is considered for this work for varying combinations of inputs, and the resultant cutting force, maximum principal stress, and tool life are determined. Adopting a signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio minimizes the outputs for better machining conditions and achieves high-quality components with precision, tolerance, and accuracy. The ideal conditions obtained from the S/N ratio are RAA of 6°, RIA of 3°, and NR of 0.6 mm. Analysis of variance presents that the NR influences the resultant cutting force, wear depth, and work piece damage 73.51%, RAA following by 23.99%, and RIA by 2.03% achieved with a R² value of 99.53%.