Performance evaluation of Ti–6Al–4V machining using nano-cutting fluids under minimum quantity lubrication

Abstract

Owing to their superior mechanical, physical, and chemical characteristics, titanium and its alloys are broadly used in different industrial applications such as military, aerospace, power generation, and automotive. However, titanium alloys are inherently difficult to cut materials due to the high generated temperature during machining. In addition to flood cooling, several other techniques were employed to reduce the harmful effect and the generated temperature and generally improve titanium alloys machinability. In this paper, an attempt is made to utilize nano-additives to improve the cooling efficiency of minimum quantity lubrication (MQL) during machining titanium alloys. The main objective of the current research is to investigate the influence of dispersed multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) into vegetable oil by implementing the MQL technique during turning of Ti–6Al–4V. The novelty here lies on enhancing the MQL heat capacity using different concentrations of nano-fluid in order to improve Ti–6Al–4V machinability. Different cutting tests were performed and relevant data were collected. The studied design variables were cutting speed, feed rate, and percentage of added nano-additives (wt%). It was found that 2 wt% MWCNT nano-fluid reduced the power consumption by 11.5% in comparison with tests performed without any nano-additives, while the same concentration reduced the flank wear by 45%.