A comparative study for biomachining of aluminium alloy 4004 using Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans and Aspergillus niger

摘要

Biomachining is one of the fastest growing technologies in the coming future. Besides, there are many advantages of biomachining such as low energy consumption, environmental friendly and no use of coolant; some of the shortcomings reported by early researchers is less metal removal rate. In this work, a comparative study on biomachining of aluminium alloy 4004 has been done using Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans and Aspergillus niger. Taguchi design of experiments (DOE) L16 approach is used to analyse the influence of process parameters (shaking rate, pH, time and concentration) to enhance the performance of biomachining. Thus, based on the analysis of results, it has been concluded that Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans provides better results in comparison to Aspergillus niger. Additionally, optimal values of process parameters have been suitably compared in case of both bacteria and fungus for improved material removal rate, surface finish and hardness.