Investigations on the effect of silver nanoparticles on performance of coconut oil based cutting fluid in minimal fluid application

In this work, an innovative nanocutting fluid, based on coconut oil was developed by dispersing silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) of size less than 50 nm. The tribological and physical properties of the prepared nanocutting fluid with different volumes of silver nanoparticles were studied. It was found that the addition of 4% by volume of nanoparticles enhanced the properties of the nanocutting fluid compared to the other concentrations studied, thus demonstrating its excellent tribological performance. The effect of the newly developed nanocutting fluid with 4% of silver nanoparticles on cutting performance was also investigated while machining AISI4340 steel with minimal fluid application. Results revealed that the cutting force, cutting temperature, and tool wear are reduced on an average by 22.6%, 12.6%, and 5.3% respectively. It was evident that efficient cooling and lubrication of nanocutting fluid dispersed with silver nanoparticles improved the cutting performance. The outcomes of this work can be considered as a development toward eco-friendly and sustainable machining.

Performance Assessment and Chip Morphology Evaluation of Austenitic Stainless Steel under Sustainable Machining Conditions

Sustainable manufacturing has received great attention in the last few decades for obtaining high quality products with minimal costs and minimal negative impacts on environment. Sustainable machining is one of the main sustainable manufacturing branches, which is concerned with improving environmental conditions, reducing power consumption, and minimizing machining costs. In the current study, the performance of three sustainable machining techniques, namely dry, compressed air cooling, and minimum quantity lubrication, is compared with conventional flood machining during the turning of austenitic stainless steel (Nitronic 60). This alloy is widely used in aerospace engine components, medical applications, gas power industries, and nuclear power systems due to its superior mechanical and thermal properties. Machining was performed using SiAlON ceramic tool with four different cutting speeds, feeds and a constant depth of cut. Consequently, various chip characteristics such as chip morphology, chip thickness, saw tooth distance and chip segmentation frequency were analyzed with both optical and scanning electron microscopes. Performance assessment was performed under the investigated cutting conditions. Our results show that the tool life under MQL machining are 138%, 72%, and 11% greater than dry, compressed air, and flooded conditions, respectively. The use of SiAlON ceramic tool results is more economically viable under the MQL environment as the overall machining cost per component is lower ($0.27) as compared to dry ($0.36), compressed air ($0.31), and flooded ($0.29) machining conditions. The minimum quantity lubrication technique outperformed the other investigated techniques in terms of eco-friendly aspects, economic feasibility, and technical viability to improve sustainability.

Progressing towards Sustainable Machining of Steels: A Detailed Review

Machining operations are very common for the production of auto parts, i.e., connecting rods, crankshafts, etc. In machining, the use of cutting oil is very necessary, but it leads to higher machining costs and environmental problems. About 17% of the cost of any product is associated with cutting fluid, and about 80% of skin diseases are due to mist and fumes generated by cutting oils. Environmental legislation and operators’ safety demand the minimal use of cutting fluid and proper disposal of used cutting oil. The disposal cost is huge, about two times higher than the machining cost. To improve occupational health and safety and the reduction of product costs, companies are moving towards sustainable manufacturing. Therefore, this review article emphasizes the sustainable machining aspects of steel by employing techniques that require the minimal use of cutting oils, i.e., minimum quantity lubrication, and other efficient techniques like cryogenic cooling, dry cutting, solid lubricants, air/vapor/gas cooling, and cryogenic treatment. Cryogenic treatment on tools and the use of vegetable oils or biodegradable oils instead of mineral oils are used as primary techniques to enhance the overall part quality, which leads to longer tool life with no negative impacts on the environment. To further help the manufacturing community in progressing towards industry 4.0 and obtaining net-zero emissions, in this paper, we present a comprehensive review of the recent, state of the art sustainable techniques used for machining steel materials/components by which the industry can massively improve their product quality and production.

Effect of Machining Parameters on Surface Roughness During Milling Operation

Aluminum is one of the most extensively used metal in aerospace industry and other applications due to its corrosion resistance, good machineability excellent mechanical properties and high strength to weight ratio. Machining parameters like number of inserts, depth of cut, cutting speed, feed rate, and cutting tool diameter have considerable impact on production rate, surface finish, energy consumption and sustainable machining. Suitable process parameters during machining and specifically milling process not only leads towards better surface finish but also towards sustainable machining. Aim of machining has always been to produce parts with better surface quality and lower energy consumption. To study the effect of milling parameters on the surface finish, Taguchi L9 array was employed for experimentation. The outcome of each parameter on surface finish has been examined using ANOVA and the most considerable parameters were identified. It has also been observed that the number of inserts significantly influence the surface finish.