Performance evaluation of textured carbide tools under environment-friendly minimum quantity lubrication turning strategies

Abstract

Present investigation is focused to study the impact of different lubricating environments using pure canola oil and graphene mixed in canola oil, on the performance of uncoated carbide textured tools in minimum quantity lubrication (MQL) turning of AISI 4340 hardened steel. The influence of using twin jet and single jet was also studied under MQL. The turning performance was evaluated in terms of flank wear (VBmax), cutting forces, cutting temperature, and chip morphology. The results showed that MQL mist supplied simultaneously on rake and flank face of the textured tool by twin-jet nozzle performed better than MQL mist supplied on the rake face of textured tool by the single-jet nozzle. Out of all the tested lubricating environments, best tool life was achieved with nanoparticle minimum quantity lubrication (NMQL) using the twin jet followed by only oil using twin jet as compared to all other conditions tested in this study. The outcome of the study illustrates that MQL mist of graphene which is mixed in canola oil on a textured tool with the twin-jet nozzle can be successfully applied for finish turning of hardened steel.