Pulsed cutting fluid improved machining process

Abstract

Traditional machining methods are still very important in machining mechanical parts, although many non-traditional machining methods, such as electrical discharge machining, laser burning, and water jet abrasion, have been used extensively. In traditional machining processes, cutting fluid plays a very important role. It not only cools down the cutting tool and target parts, by which the cutting tool achieves a longer life and the target parts obtain better quality, but it also acts as a lubricant, decreasing the friction force between the tool rake and the machined material. In traditional machining process, cutting fluid accounts for 15–30% of the total cutting costs [Kamiya, Y., 1996. Safety and environmental control in flexible manufacturing system. Journal of mechanics and cutting tools, 40 (2), 24–30 (in Japanese)]. Although current cutting fluid provision systems work well most of the time, high productivity machining encourages use of high cutting velocity and feed rate. As a result, conventional or low-pressure cutting fluid provision methods are not sufficiently efficient to penetrate the cutting zone. Therefore, cutting fluids with better performance are required. In this study, a new cutting fluid supply method, which uses a specially designed device to provide pulsed delivery of cutting fluid, has been introduced. This method greatly improves cutting performance. Experimental results showed that pulsed cutting fluid significantly decreased the cutting force needed and achieved better cutting surface quality.