Purpose
The quality of the surface being machined and tool life are greatly affected by heat generated during machining. Abundant use of cutting fluid leads to higher production rates and a threat ...for environment and worker’s health. Hence, the need is to identify eco-friendly lubricants. The purpose of the current work is to investigate the effects of solid lubricants (boric acid and molybdenum disulphide) mixed with oil during turning of EN-31 using cemented carbide tools. The concentration of solid lubricants in oil is varied to analyze output parameters such as surface roughness, process temperature, power consumption and tool wear.
Design/methodology/approach
EN 31 steel material is machined at various cutting speeds and constant feed and depth of cut to determine the effects of dry, wet and solid lubricant assisted machining.
Findings
Experimental study revealed that the solid lubricants performed better while machining and therefore it may be considered as environment friendly and cost effective way of lubrication as compared to flood cooling.
Research limitations/implications
The work can be extended to identify the effects of solid lubricants on micro hardness and cutting force.
Practical implications
From the findings of the work, solid lubricants may be considered as suitable choice as compared to fluid cooling because it improves process performance without much affecting the environment and worker’s health.
Originality/value
So far the use of solid lubricants in machining is limited. The results of the work will be useful to explore various efficient way to apply solid lubricants.
Metal cutting industries are focusing on the development of sustainable and eco-friendly machining processes. The work focused on the applicability of nanofluid-based minimum quantity lubrication ...(MQL) during the machining of Inconel 718. The performance of palm oil mixed with nano-molybdenum disulphide (nMoS
2
) with varying concentrations (0.5%, 1%, and 1.5%) is assessed in machining with MQL. The turning operations have been executed under dry, wet, MQL, and nMQSL (palm oil+ nMoS
2
) environments. The machining performance is evaluated by measuring surface roughness, tool wear, micro-hardness, and chip morphology. Also, the analysis of worn tools has been performed through a scanning electron microscope (SEM) to comprehend the tool wear mechanism during the turning of Inconel 718. A noteworthy reduction in surface roughness and tool wear (flank and crater wear) is observed with 1% nMoS
2
mixed with palm oil compared to other machining environments. Also, the acceptable chip forms are produced with MQL and nMQSL revealed the cooling and lubrication efficacy of the lubricant mixture. Based on the findings of the work, the blend of palm oil mixed with nMoS
2
can be considered as a feasible alternative to achieve sustainable machining.
While machining titanium alloys, using metalworking fluids (MWFs) helps improve the tribological properties. However, its usage is restricted considering the harmful effects on health and the ...environment under sustainable machining. Using minimum quantity lubrication (MQL) to improve machining performance without utilising an excessive amount of cutting fluid is becoming more prevalent. Pure-MQL, however, might not be adequate for machining titanium alloys. Due to their improved heat transfer capabilities, nanofluid-based lubricants are extremely popular for use in the machining of superalloys. In this direction, the efficacy of the MQL mixture can be improved by using vegetable-oil-based cutting fluid reinforced with nanoparticles. Therefore, this study compares dry, flood, MQL and nanofluid-MQL techniques while machining Ti-6Al-4V titanium alloy with textured tools. The Hexagonal Boron Nitride (hBN) nanoparticles are added to the base fluid to develop a nanofluid-MQL mixture. Machinability indicators are analysed, namely tool wear, surface roughness, power consumption, and specific cutting energy. The outcomes showcased the efficacy of nanofluid-MQL with lower surface roughness, tool wear, and specific energy requirements compared to other conditions. It is observed that combining vegetable oil and hBN nanoparticles in nanofluid-MQL reduced friction and improved cooling in the machining interfaces.
To improve the quality of the product produced considering productivity, it is important to evaluate the factors affecting the machining experimentally and analytically. Looking at the harmful ...effects of conventional cutting fluid on the environment and workers' health, in the current research work effort has been made to explore the effectiveness of minimum quantity lubrication (MQL) and solid lubricant in machining. Micron-sized calcium fluoride (CaF
2
) solid lubricant powder particles are mixed in SAE 40 cutting oil and applied to the machining area with minimum quantity lubrication. The effect of different particle sizes and wt% of CaF
2
has been analysed by measuring surface roughness, chip-tool interface temperature, flank wear of the tool, and cutting forces. Results demonstrated that the smaller size and 20 wt% of CaF
2
powder have improved the process performance by lowering surface roughness and tool wear. The effectiveness of solid lubricant can be viewed as an alternative compared to wet machining. The results can be used by related industries to improve machining performance with the use of MQL and solid lubricants leading towards clean and sustainable manufacturing.
Sustainability has been a major concern of today’s manufacturing industries. Various efforts have been made to improve the productivity and performance of machining. It is always aimed to reduce the ...heat generated during machining by various cooling and lubrication approaches. In the present work, efforts have been made to assess the effectiveness of minimum quantity lubrication and solid lubricants in machining. Experiments have been performed under MQL and MQSL environment with selected flow rate (300 ml/hr), 20 wt% of calcium fluoride (CaF2) and 10µm particle size of solid lubricant and results are compared with dry and flood cooling environment. The process performance is observed by measuring surface roughness produced, tool flank wear, the microhardness of machined workpiece, and forms of the chip produced. Results revealed the superiority of lubricant mixture applied in form of MQSL due to enhanced lubricating properties imparted by solid lubricant added with MQL.
PDF