AISI 304 stainless steel has many applications like households, industrial etc. because of its high corrosion resistance and toughness. Based on its application, the current study analyses the drilling performances of AISI 304 stainless steel in terms of cutting time, cutting temperature, surface roughness and surface morphology of the drilled hole surface. Spindle speed, feed rate and drill bit diameter are considered as inputs. Using Taguchi's L9 orthogonal array, 9 numbers of experiments are conducted. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) confirmed the dominant effect of spindle speed on cutting time. Similarly, spindle speed and feed rate is found significant on cutting temperature and spindle speed, feed rate and drill bit diameter on surface roughness. High spindle speed and high feed rate require less time to drill, whereas it increases the hole surface temperature. Other hand, at medium spindle speed with high feed rate, the hole surface finish is better. The coefficients of determination for cutting time, cutting temperature, and surface roughness obtained 92.2 %, 97.5 %, 96.2 %, respectively suggested more precise and reliable predictions. From morphological study, at higher spindle speeds, the surface finish of the hole surface is better than at lower spindles because of the improved grain refinement.
Rajbongshi et al. (2026) studied this question.