Analysis of surface and sub-surface of cold-rolled Al plate lubricated with water- or oil-based lubricants

Abstract

For environmental protection, energy conservation, and other reasons, water-based lubricants are increasingly chosen to replace oil lubricants. Water-based lubricants are divided into emulsified and solution types. Solution type water-based lubricants have attracted significant attention for the good stability, easy biodegradability, and safety for workers. However, some problems exist with current solution type water-based lubricants, such as poor lubricity and corrosion resistance. During the cold-rolling process, Al plate rolled using oil-based lubricant lubrication shows metallic luster, but that rolled using water-based lubricant shows corrosion spots, black strips, and no metallic luster. Therefore, this study mainly analyzed the reasons for the darkness of Al plate cold-rolled with water solution lubricants. The differences in plate surfaces lubricated by water solution and oil were investigated by scanning electron microscopy, auger electron spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. The analysis results showed that the surface of the oil-lubricated sample is smooth, the oxygen content is low, and the oxide layer is thin, while the surface of the water solution-lubricated sample is rough, the oxygen content is high, the chemical composition is more complex, and the oxide layer is not uniform and thick.