Production Technology

Economics of Metal Cutting Operations

 CONTENT
• Introduction
• Choice of feed
• Choice of cutting speed
• Tool life for minimum cost and maximum production
time
• Estimation of factors needed to determine optimum
conditions

2
 INTRODUCTION
• In practice a high production rate would probably mean
low production costs, it should be pointed out that these
two factors must be considered separately
• The production time is defined as the average time taken
to produce one component
• The production cost is defined as the total average cost
of performing the machining operation on a component
using one machine tool.
• The production of a component will involve several
machining operations using a variety of machine tools.
Hence, the total manufacturing costs, apart from the cost
of the material, involve many items
3
• For example, the raw material must be brought to the
first machine and placed in the machine, and then when
the first machining process is completed, the component
must be removed, stacked, or stored temporarily,
transported eventually to the second machine tool, and
so on
• Assuming the appropriate tool and cutting fluid were
chosen for the machining of a batch of components, the
only cutting conditions to be determined are the cutting
speed and feed
• Feed is the distance moved by the tool relative to the
work piece in the feed direction for each revolution of
the tool or work piece

4
• If the feed speed in a milling operation is v f and the
rotational frequency of the tool is n f the work piece feed
during each revolution of the cutter is given by v f n f &
the maximum cutting speed v in a milling operation is
given by .d . n f where d is the tool diameter. It now
follows that if it is required to double the cutting speed
in a milling operation while keeping the feed constant
will be necessary to double both the rotational frequency
of the cutter and the feed speed
• Either the cutting speed or feed arc increased while the
other condition is held constant the actual machining
time will be reduced, and the tool-wear rate will increase

5
• Very low speeds and feeds will result in a high
production time because of the long machining time.
Alternatively, very high speeds and feeds will result in a
high production time because of the frequent need to
change cutting tools. Clearly, an optimum condition will
exist giving minimum production time.
• Similarly, an optimum condition will arise for minimum
production cost At low speeds and feeds costs will be
high because of the cost of using the machine and
operator for the long machining times. At high speeds
and feeds costs will be high because of the cost of
frequent tool replacement

6
 CHOICE OF FEED

• When a finishing cut is to be taken, the appropriate feed

will be that which gives an acceptable surface finish
• An increase in feed will not affect the relative speed of
sliding at the wearing surface of the tool, whereas the
speed of sliding will change in proportion to the cutting
speed. Since tool wear is a function of both temperature
and relative speed of sliding. it can be appreciated that
increases in cutting speed will result in a greater
reduction in tool life than similar increases in feed
• If an increased production rate is required in rough
machining. it will always be preferable to increase the
feed rather than increase the speed

7
• This procedure will not always be practical since, in
general, an increase in feed will increase the tool forces,
whereas an increase in cutting speed will not. A limit on
feed increase will therefore exist and will depend on the
maximum tool force the machine tool is able to
withstand. The guiding principle in choosing optimum
cutting conditions in a roughing operation is that the
feed should always be set at the maximum possible

8
 CHOICE OF CUTTING SPEED

• In this case the time spent by the operator and his

machine in producing a batch of components N b can be
separated into three items

1. Total non-productive time = N b . t1

where,
t1 = time to (load the stock + position the tool
+ unload the part)
Nb = the total number of parts in the batch.

9
2. Total machining time = N b . t m
where,
tm = time to machine the part
3. Total tool change time = N t . t c
where,
tc = time to replace the worn tool with a new
Nt = total number tools used to machine the
entire batch.
• Cost of each tool = Ct
• Cost per unit time for machine and operator = M
• if M is the total machine and operator rate, the total
machine and operator costs will be
M  N b . t1  N b . t m  N t . t c 
10
• The average production cost for each component can
now be written
Nt Nt
C pr  Mtl  Mtm  M tc  Ct
Nb Nb
where, N t . C t = total number tools used to machine
the entire batch
• To calculate the number of tools used in producing the
batch of components ii is necessary to know the
relationship between cutting speed and tool life. Taylor
showed that an empirical relationship exists between
these variables as shown

11
 n
v tr 
• Now,  
vr  t 
where,
v = cutting speed
t = tool life
n = constant
tr = measured tool life for a given cutting
speed vr
• The value t r of may be found for a particular work piece
and tool material and a particular feed either by
experiment or from published empirical data. The index
n depends mainly on the tool material; for high-speed
steel n~0.125,for carbide 0.25 < n < 0.3, and for ceramics
0.5 < n < 0.7
12
• Traditionally, the Taylor tool-life equation is,
v. t n  C
• The number of tools N t used in machining the batch of
components is given by N b . t m t assuming that the tool is
engaged with the work piece during the entire
machining lime. Thus,
1
Nt tm tm  v  n
  .  
Nb t t r  vr 

• Finally, the machining time for one component is given

by L
tm 
v
where v is the cutting speed and L is a constant
for the particular operation
13
• The relationship between the production cost and the
cutting speed can now be obtained by
1 L
C pr  Mt1  MLv  1
( M tc  Ct )V (1 n ) / n
vr n .t r
• Optimum speed for minimum cost can be given by
dC pr
0
dV
n
 M tr n 

v c  v r  
 ( M t c  Ct ) (1  n) 

14
• The effect of cutting speed on the cost of production can
more clearly be shown in the form of a graph. In the
figure the three individual cost items represented, the
nonproductive cost, the machining cost, and the tool
costs, are plotted separately and show how an optimum
cutting speed arises for a given set of conditions

15
• To find the cutting speed giving maximum production
rate (or minimum production time) it is necessary to
follow a similar procedure
• Average production time for one component is given by
Nt
t pr  t1  t m  tc
Nb
• And cutting speed for minimum production time is,
n
 tr n 
v p  v r  
 t c (1  n) 
• Comparison shows that application of the criteria for
minimum cost and minimum production time yield
different conditions
16
 TOOL LIFE FOR MINIMUM COST
AND MINIMUM PRODUCTION
TIME
• The optimum tool life for minimum cost t c and t p the
optimum tool life for minimum production time.
1 n  Ct 
tc   tc  
n  t
M 
and 1 n 
tp  t ct
 n 
1  n 
For practical use the factor n in upper equation given
the valve 7 for high speed steel, 3 for carbide, and 1 for
oxide or ceramic.

17
• these values the approximate expressions for the
optimum tool life for various tool materials becomes for
• High-speed steel:  ct 
tc  7 tct  
 M
t p  7tct

• carbide:  Ct 
t c  3 t ct  
 M 
t p  3t ct

• oxide or ceramic: Ct
t c  t ct 
M
t p  t ct
18
• Finally, the corresponding optimum cutting speeds can
be found from
n
And v  v  t r 
c r 
 tc 
n
 tr 
v p  vr  
t 
 p

19
 ESTIMATION Of FACTORS
NEEDED TO DETERMINE
OPTIMUM CONDITIONS
• The method of calculating these costs varies from factory
to factory, but the following expression would be
applicable in most cases:
 operator   machine 
M  W0    0
W  M t M t
 100   100 
w0= operator’s wage rate
Mt = depreciation rate of machine tool
• Operator overhead can vary from 100 to 300 percent and
in· eludes the worker's benefits provided by the
company,
20
• the cost of providing the working facilities, and the cost
of the administrators necessary to employ the worker.
• Machine overhead includes the cost of the power
consumed by the machine,
• the cost of servicing the machine, and possibly the cost
of providing the location for the machine.

21
• The following expression would generally be used to
estimate the machine depreciation rate:
Mt = initial cost of machine /(num of working hours
per year)*(amortization period)
• The method used to estimate tool costs depends on the
type of tool used. For regrindable tools the following
expression can be used to estimate the cost of providing
a sharp tool
• Ct= cost of grinding + cost of tool /( avg num
of regrinds possible)
• For disposable-insert tools, the cost of providing a sharp
tool can be estimated from the following equation:
Ct = cost of insert / (avg num of cutting edge use per
insert)
+ cost of holder / (num of cutting edges used
during life of holder)
22
• To illustrate the application of the expressions developed
thus far it will be assumed that a large batch of steel shafts
are to be rough-turned to a 76mm diameter for 300mm of
their length at a feed of 0.25 mm . A brazed type carbide
tool is to be used, and the appropriate constants in Taylor's
tool-life equation for the conditions employed arc as
follows: n=0.25, and vr=4.064 m/s when tr =60s (C =800
ft/min). The initial cost of the machine was $10,800 and is to
be amortized over 5 years. The operator's wage will be
assumed to be $0.0015/s ($5.40/hr), and the operator and
machine overheads arc 100 percent Tool-changing and
resetting time on the machine is 300s and the cost of
regrinding the tool is $2.00. The initial cost of a tool is $6.00,
and, on the average, it can be reground 10 times. Finally,
the nonproductive time for each component is 120 s.
23
• The first step in these calculations is to estimate the
magnitudes of the relevant factors:
1. The machine and Operator rote M: If the machine is to
be used on an 8·hr shift per day, 5 days per week, and
50 weeks per year , each year will contain 7.2 Ms (7 X
106 s) of working time. The machine depreciation rate
(Eq Mt )therefore
10800
Mt   $0.0003 / s
7.2 10  5
6

thus the machine and operator rate

M  0.0003  0.0003  0.0015  $0.0036 / s

24
2. The cost of providing a sharp tool Ct: This cost can be
found from
Ct =$2.60
3. The tool-changing time tct: This value is given as
tct=300s
It is now possible to estimate the tool life tc, and cutting
speed vc, for minimum cost and the tool life tp, and
cutting speed vp, for minimum production time.

 ct 
 2.6  103

tc  3 tct    3 300  
 M  3.6 
 3.07ks(51.2 min)

25
• and the corresponding cutting speed
n
 tr 
0.25
 60 
vc  vr    4.064 
 tc   3070 
for min production time :
 1.52m / s(407 ft / min)
and the corresponding cutting speed
t p  3t ct  900 s
n
 tr   60 
0.25

v p  vr    4.064 
t   900 
 p
 2.065m / s(407 ft / min)

26
• minimum cost the time taken to machine one
component tm,

d wlw   76 10 3  300 10 3

tm   3
 189s(3.15 min
vf 1.52  0.25  10

• Since the tool life is 3070s, each tool will produce 16

components, and the ratio Nt/Nb. in the cost equation
will be equal to 0.0625.
• Nonproductive cost= Mtm = 3.6 x 10-3 x 120
= $0.432

27
• Machining cost = Mtm = 3.6 x 10-3 x 189
= $0.68
 Nt 
tool cost   
 Mtct  ct 
 Nb 

 0.625 3.6  10 3  300   2.6 
 $0.23
Finally the total cost Cpr is $1.34.
Nonproductive time = tl = 120 s
Machining time = tm = 189 s
Tool changing time =

the total production time t,. is 328 s (5.5 min~

 Nt 
 tct  0.0625  300
 Nb 
 18.75s
28
 Reference

• Fundamentals of Machining & Machine Tools 2Ed -

Geoffrey Boothroyd

29