Performance of green machining: a comparative study of turning ductile cast iron FCD700

Abstract

A safe and healthy workplace is important for sustainable manufacturing. Green machining is a metal cutting process that does not use a cutting fluid and, because it is less detrimental to the environment, it is fast being adopted by metal cutting industries. In conventional machining, Metal Working Fluids (MWFs) are widely used to obtain a smoother machining process, a longer tool life, and a better surface finish. Unfortunately, metalworking fluids also have several negative health, production cost, and environmental impacts. This paper focuses on an experimental investigation into the role of green or dry machining on tool life and surface finish, in the machining of ductile cast iron FCD700. A comparative study of turning experiments, under dry and wet cutting conditions, using commercial oil and palm oil-based MWFs, was conducted using the same machining parameter set-up. The results show that dry machining performance is comparable to that of wet machining. It was found that the performance of wet machining, in terms of tool life, was better than dry machining; however, the surface quality of dry machining was almost similar to that of wet machining. Furthermore, it was evident that green machining can be conducted at high cutting speeds, low feed rates, and depths of cut, and using suitable coated tools.