Tribological Effects of H-Bn Nano Cutting Fluid - Minimum Quantity Lubrication (Nf-Mql) on Machining Inconel 625

Abstract

Minimum quantity lubrication (MQL) is currently a widely used lubricating technique during machining, in which minimum amount of lubricant in the form of mist is delivered to the machining interface, thus helps to reduce the negative effects caused to the environment and human health. Further, to enhance the productivity of machining process specifically for hard-to-cut materials, nano cutting fluid (suitably mixed nano materials with conventional cutting fluid) is used as an alternative method to conventional lubrication (wet) in MQL. In the current paper, h-BN nano cutting fluid was formulated with 0.1% vol. concentration of h-BN in conventional cutting fluid for NF-MQL technique and its tribological effects on machining performance of Inconel 625 were compared with other lubricating conditions (dry, wet, MQL conventional). The tribological effects were analyzed in terms of tool wear analysis, chip morphology along with statistical analysis for surface roughness and cutting forces. The optimal input machining parameters for experiments were defined by the use of Taguchi and Grey relational based multi response optimization technique. The tribological effects of h-BN NF-MQL shows that it is a viable and sustainable option for improving the machining performance of hard- to- cut material like Inconel 625.