Aluminum alloys are widely used today in plastic injection molds in the automotive and aerospace industries due to their high strength and weight ratio, good corrosion and fatigue resistance as well as high feed rates. The 5754 aluminum alloy has high corrosion resistance and a structure suitable for cold forming. In this study, an AA 5754-H111 tempered aluminum alloy with the dimensions of 80×80×30 mm was used, and some of the materials were cryogenically heat treated. For the milling operations, ϕ12 mm diameter 76 mm height uncoated as well as TiCN and TiAlN coated end mills were used. Different levels of cutting depth (1.25, 2.0, 2.5 mm), cutting speed (50, 80, 100 m/ min), feed rate (265, 425, 530 m/ min) and machining pattern (concentric, back and forth and inward helical) were used. The number of experiments was reduced from 486 to 54 using the Taguchi L54 orthogonal array. The values obtained at the end of the experiments were evaluated using the signal-to-noise ratio, ANOVA, three-dimensional graphs and the regression method. Based on the result of the verification experiments, the processing accuracy for surface roughness was improved from 3.20 μm to 0.90 μm, with performance increase of 71.88%.

Grippers are routinely used to hold, lift and move organs in laparoscopic operations. They are generally toothed to prevent organs from slipping during retention. Organs held by grippers are always at risk of being damaged by the clamping force. In this study, noncontact grippers working with the Bernoulli principle and using air pressure were developed, and vacuum performance was compared in terms of maximum tissue weight holding capacity. For this purpose, Taguchi method was employed for experimental design and optimization, and Taguchi L₁₆ orthogonal array was selected for experimental design. The experimental parameters were 4 gripper types, 4 air-pressure levels (3.5, 4.5, 5, and 5.5 bar), 4 flow rates (2.2, 2.6, 2.8 and 3 m³/h) and two animal tissue types (ventriculus/gizzard and skin). Values from the experimental procedures were evaluated using signal-to-noise ratio, analysis of variance and three-dimension graphs. An equation was obtained by using 3rd-order polynomial regression model for weight values. Optimization reliability was tested by validation tests and the revealed test results were within the estimated confidence interval. The results obtained from this study are important for future studies in terms of organ injury prevention due to traditional grippers in laparoscopic surgery.