Penetration and lubrication evaluation of vegetable oil with nanographite particles for broaching process

With increasing environmental concerns, the substitution of mineral oil-based cutting fluid has become an urgent issue. Using vegetable soybean oil as base fluid, nanofluid cutting fluids (NFCFs) were prepared by adding different weight concentrations of nanographite particles (NGPs), and their penetration and lubrication performances were studied. A novel simulated tool-chip slit with micrometer-sized geometry was manufactured to evaluate and quantify the penetration rate of the NFCFs by image analysis approach. Moreover, a large number of comparative experiments on the closed-type broaching machine were carried out to compare the performance of the proposed NFCFs and a commercial cutting fluid in terms of cutting force, workpiece surface roughness, and metal chip. It is found that there is an optimal NGP concentration in NFCF for practical cutting applications. When the concentration of NGP is 0.4 wt%, the broaching process lubrication exhibits an ideal mixed lubricate state, resulting in minimal friction resistance, and thus, both the cutting force and chip curling angle reach their corresponding best values. Moreover, the proposed NGP-based vegetable-oil cutting fluid exhibits excellent environment-friendliness and low-cost consumption in the minimal quantity lubrication (MQL) method; this demonstrates its potential for replacing the traditional broaching cutting fluid.

Performance Evaluation of Jatropha and Pongamia Oil Based Environmentally Friendly Cutting Fluids for Turning AA 6061

Owing to the desirable properties of vegetable oils as cutting fluids, an attempt is made to explore the potentiality of plentifully available vegetable oils as a cutting fluid for turning AA 6061. Two nonedible vegetable oils, Jatropha and Pongamia, in their chemically modified (epoxidized) versions are used as straight cutting fluids. Cutting fluids are introduced to the machining zone with the aid of Minimal Quantity Lubrication (MQL) method. Taguchi’s technique of orthogonal arrays is used to develop an effective design of experiments. The results obtained under epoxidized versions of Jatropha and Pongamia oils are compared with the results of mineral oil in terms of cutting forces and surface roughness. Experimental observations and statistical analysis show that, compared to mineral oil, the modified versions of vegetable oil-based cutting fluids are more effective in reducing the cutting forces and increasing surface finish. It is also observed that the modified Pongamia oil showed lesser flank wear compared to the other two tested oils.

Improving material cutting by application of natural origin oil

The article deals with the experimental evaluation (in the laboratory) of environmentally secure lubricating and cooling technological means’ (LCTM) influence on the force characteristics and tool wear in the turning process of structural materials with different chemical activity. The experiment results confirm that the use of vegetable and animal fats in combination with the minimal quantity lubrication technology (MQL) provides for a significant reduction of cutting forces and the contact area.