Sustainability Analysis of AISI 1018 Turning Operations under Surface Integrity Criteria

• Main Authors: Carlos Vila, César Ayabaca, Carlos Díaz-Campoverde, Orlando Calle
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2019-09-01
• Series: Sustainability
• Subjects: green manufacturing; turning operations; sustainability metrics; surface integrity; machining parameters optimization
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/17/4786

While the world is moving towards achieving sustainable development goals for responsible production and consumption, there is a need for metrics deployment for lower practical levels. From a manufacturing perspective, definitions of sustainability indicators are required for industrial processes and operations. These metrics encourage the evaluation of manufactured parts and whether they meet the quality requirements in both a qualitative and quantitative way. The present contribution proposes a framework for defining a structured set of metrics customizable for operations in different manufacturing technologies. In order to validate the proposal, an experimental data analysis of turning operations was completed and the surface integrity was defined as the control feature. The selected material was AISI 1018 and the main process parameters were controlled in order to identify their influence—not only in the final mechanical quality of the part, but also in the sustainability indicators. To achieve this goal, a set of experiments was performed wherein some of the fundamental machining parameter values were fixed, while other key parameters were modified. The results obtained helped to determine the criteria for predicting the quality of the turning operation when the effects are not readily evident in visual or dimensional inspections, as well as in evaluating the environmental impact that guarantees optimal part manufacturing.