Commercial Grade Research Articles

Evaluation of critical process parameter on the production of sustainable bead foams based on polylactic acid

A commercial grade of polylactic acid (PLA) was foamed without using modifiers to obtain expanded polylactic acid bead foams (EPLA). Typically, the foaming process is influenced by both melt properties and crystallization behavior. While factors like water temperature, die structure, and die temperature are known to have effects on bead foam processing, these aspects have not been thoroughly explored in the context of PLA bead foam production. To address this gap, a comprehensive investigation was undertaken, varying water temperature, die structure, and die temperature to discern their impact on PLA processing behavior. Results revealed that water temperature significantly influenced foaming behavior, particularly at elevated temperatures near the glass transition of PLA. Additionally, the study demonstrated that die size wielded a notable influence on all foam properties, dictating process limits. With the selection of an appropriate die size, the die temperature could be manipulated within the range of 190°C to 160°C, revealing a substantial impact on the overall process. Remarkably, the lowest densities achieved were 63 kg/m3 with an average cell size of 36 µm and a cell density of 1.1*107 cells per cm3.

GC/MS Screening of Substances Released from Post-Consumer Recycled HDPE Pellets into 95% Ethanol: Reproducibility and Variation between Production Batches

The use of post-consumer recycled (PCR) plastic materials in sensitive packaging applications, such as for cosmetic products and detergents, requires a clear understanding of the identities and quantities of chemical substances, which they may release into packed products. With many potential sources of and thus different types of potentially releasable substances, a reliable non-targeted screening method is required to assess these materials. Such a method should be readily applicable in industrial practice and provide a realistic estimation of substance release. This investigation focused on the use of gas chromatography/coupled mass spectrometry (GC/MS) to analyze substances, which recycled HDPE (rHDPE) plastic pellets release into 95% ethanol under accelerated testing conditions. The results of the repeated testing of reference samples clearly demonstrated the good reproducibility of the described methodology, with standard deviations of repeated determinations of the total released substance amounts of 6.8–8.1%. The application to several production batches of three commercial rHDPE grades additionally demonstrated that the batch-to-batch variation of substances which rHDPE materials release can be confined to less than 10% of variation of the total detectable substance amount. The described methodology is therefore seen as a pragmatic, repeatable assessment of recycled HDPE plastic batches with a view to substance release.

Screening immunomodulatory Q-markers in Astragali Radix based on UHPLC-QTOF-MS analysis and spectrum-effect relationship.

Astragali Radix (AR) is one of the famous traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs) for boosting immunity, whereas the quality markers (Q-markers) of AR have not been clearly researched. The immunomodulatory activities of the bioactive extractions and components were evaluated by NO inhibition rate; phagocytic index; IL-10, TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6 cytokines in RAW264.7 cells; and the relative proliferation rate of spleen cells. The total saponins (TS) and the grade 2 (Xiaoxuan, XX) of AR showed the strongest immunomodulatory activities. At the concentration of 40 μg/mL, the TS increased spleen cells proliferation by 48.0% and upregulated the level of IL-1β and IL-6. Cytokines in the XX-treated group were at least 1.6 times higher than the control group. A total of 190 common peaks were detected in AR by ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC-QTOF-MS). The multivariate statistical analyses revealed that 41 compounds were positively correlated with immune responses, and bioactive compounds were verified by using RAW264.7 cell assay. Subsequently, the contents of six compounds in different commercial grades were determined, and the results showed the same trend in contents and activities. Finally, calycosin-7-O-β-D-glucoside, astragaloside IV, astragaloside II, astragaloside I, isomucronulatol-7-O-glucoside, and 9,10-dimethoxypterocarpan-3-O-glucoside were screened out as immunomodulatory Q-markers of AR.

Effect of micromechanical properties of commercial grade electrolytic copper foils on lithium-ion batteries

As the carrier and electrical conduction component of positive and negative electrode materials, current collector plays an important role in lithium-ion batteries(LIBs). With the industrial application of silicon-doped anode materials with higher gram capacity, the huge volume change of silicon-doped anode materials puts forward higher requirements for the mechanical properties of copper foils(CFs). It is of great significance to study the effect of micromechanical properties on LIBs for the application screening of CFs. In this article, the effects of micromechanical properties of conventional tensile strength(CTS), high tensile strength(HTS) and ultra-high tensile strength(UHTS) commercial grade electrolytic CFs on LIBs were studied. The tensile strength of CTS, HTS and UHTS was 316.88 MPa, 464.74 MPa and 673.43 MPa, respectively; the elongation were 6.49 %, 5.38 % and 4.47 %, respectively. The surface morphology and XRD tests show that the microstructure such as grain size and dislocation density are the key factors affecting the mechanical properties of CFs. And under the same conditions, the main factors affecting bonding strength of electrode are microstrain and residual stress of CFs rather than surface roughness. The larger the microstrain and residual stress of CFs, the worse the interface bonding strength between CFs and coating materials, and the larger the corresponding interface charge transfer impedance, which is well confirmed by DCR and EIS. The charge-discharge test results show that the mutual stress between CFs and coating materials also have a great influence. The lower elastic modulus and microscopic stress of CFs can better eliminate the expansion pressure and contraction tension of coating materials, thereby reducing the resistance and overpotential in the process of lithium-ion diffusion, and achieving higher capacity under high rate system. The retention rates of three CFs after 500 cycles at 25℃ and 45℃ were 25-CTS(92.64 %), 25-HTS(90.63 %) 25-UHTS(89.11 %), and 45-CTS(82.17 %), 45-HTS(82.14 %), 45-UHTS(80.77 %), respectively, which indicates that the difference in mechanical properties of CFs have an important influence on long-term application of LIBs. The primary cause of the variation in electrochemical performance, aside from copper foil’s conductivity, is the phase interface shift brought on by the microstress of the material; and the overpotential caused by the phase interface force cannot be ignored.

Rheological analysis of network structure of raw natural rubber prepared by different processing techniques

The performance of raw natural rubber (NR) is dominated by its network structure, particular the levels of long chain branching (LCB) and entanglement. Here, three type of raw rubbers were prepared using different processing methods for commercial grade NRs. Linear and nonlinear viscoelastic behaviors, as well as stress relaxation, were analyzed to access their network structures. The third relative harmonic, phase angle, and first to second quarter-period integral ratio of stress curve were utilized as indicators for the nonlinearity of samples. By combining these values with flow activation energy and characteristic times, it can be confirmed that naturally coagulated NR showed higher elasticity than acid-coagulated NR due to high levels of LCB and entanglement, and hot air drying could lead to chain degradation. These findings correlated with molecular weight parameters, gel content and Mooney viscosity results. This research establishes a method for monitoring raw NR quality and predicting its properties.

In Vitro Mucoadhesive Features of Gliadin Nanoparticles Containing Thiamine Hydrochloride.

Gliadins have aroused significant interest in the last decade as suitable biomaterials for food and pharmaceutical applications. In particular, the oral route is the preferred method of administration for gliadin-based formulations, due to the affinity of this biomaterial for the gut mucosa. However, up to now, this has been demonstrated only by means of in vivo or ex vivo studies. This is why, in this study, various in vitro techniques were employed in order to evaluate the ability of polymeric nanoparticles, made up of a commercial grade of the protein and an etheric surfactant, to interact with porcine gastric mucin. The nanosystems were also used for the encapsulation of thiamine hydrochloride, used as a model of a micronutrient. The resulting systems were characterized by a mean diameter of ~160-170 nm, a narrow size distribution when 0.2-0.6 mg/mL of thiamine was used, and an encapsulation efficiency between 30 and 45% of the drug initially employed. The incubation of the gliadin nanosystems with various concentrations of porcine gastric mucin evidenced the ability of the carriers to interact with the mucus glycoprotein, showing a decreased Zeta potential after a 4 h incubation (from ~-30 to -40 mV), while demonstrating that the encapsulation of the drug did not affect its bioadhesive features. Altogether, these data support the conceivable application of gliadin nanoparticles as formulations for the oral administration of bioactive compounds.

Synthesis of low-entangled UHMWiPP using Hf-pyridyl amido catalyst activated by trityl tetrakis (pentafluorophenyl) borate

Recently we demonstrated that low entangled ultra-high molecular weight isotactic polypropylene having molecular weight up to 2.4 million g/mol can be synthesized using a Hf-pyridyl amido catalyst activated by dimethylanilinium tetrakis (pentafluorophenyl)borate. Herein, we used an aprotic borate (trityl tetrakis(pentafluorophenyl)borate) to activate a Hf-pyridyl amido catalyst leading to a fast and ease catalyst activation even at lower temperatures, thus yielding exceptionally high molecular weight (up to 7.7 million g/mol) having improved tacticity (mmmm up to 98.5 %) and peak melting temperature (up to 165 °C). Thus synthesized polymers show extremely slow equilibration process by rheological characterization, indicating the low entangled state. These polymers can be processed in solid-state, without melting, into uniaxial drawn tapes having high tensile strength (1.46 N/tex) and tensile modulus (33 N/tex). The superior mechanical properties enable the tapes to be used as reinforcing material for commercial polypropylene grades, opening the possibilities of making one-component easy-to-recycle composites.

Assessing the mass-culture system and proximate content of Arthrospira maxima local for biogas and biohydrogen productions

Arthrospira maxima is a type of local cyanobacteria that has shown success in being grown massively in Indonesia. This research is aimed at looking at the resilience and ability to grow in outdoor conditions using cheap media and following environmental patterns in terms of temperature, sunlight and aeration. In specific purpose is utilization of the obtained biomass for biogas or biohydrogen production. Also, media optimization research from chemical pour grade analyzes into commercial types has been carried out at laboratory scale and field scale. The results show that at the scaling up process from laboratorial to outdoor condition the amount of biomass ratio has decreased by 2–10%, whereas proximate of protein has decreased from 46% to 38%, in contrast starch tends to increase from 10% to 23% and lipid was increase from around 9%–12%. Freshwater and marine water basic media also showing difference in ratio of biomass production and main proximate. The total calory and protein seems higher if A. maxima cultivate using marine water. Cultivation time outdoors turns out to be faster growth when compared to controlled conditions indoors. Biomass analysis results show that the largest content is protein, followed by carbohydrates and lipid. Considering the composition of the proximate, the cyanobacteria biomass tends to be used for biogas conversion rather than alcohol, due to the high protein with less carbohydrate content. Moreover, Arthrospira is cyanobacteria which is capable for producing heterocyst cells that can be excite gas. It was found the cyanobacteria release hydrogen gas around 54 μL/g wet biomasses/day mature culture. However, it should be remembered that this strain is still original or wild type, and can still be developed using both environmental and molecular manipulation approaches. Survival rate from laboratory scale to field scale shows that the microalgae is strong and worthy of consideration for industrial applications. Apart from that, high pH culture conditions are very good for removing contaminants. Also changing the media from pour analyses grade chemicals to commercial chemicals grade only reduces the biomass composition by 2–5% so it is worth considering for commercial applications. Testing various reactors to make biomass as needed with high productivity will be a challenge in the future.

Commercial Grading and Domestic Processing of Indonesian MZ Potato: Implications for Nutritional and Textural Properties [pdf

Commercial Grading and Domestic Processing of Indonesian MZ Potato: Implications for Nutritional and Textural Properties [pdf

Martensite size and morphology influence on strain distribution and micro-damage evolution in dual-phase steels; comparing segregation-neutralised and banded grades

A change in strain partitioning and microscale failure mechanisms in dual-phase (DP) steel was found when both the morphology and distribution of martensite were altered compared to a banded DP steel grade benchmarked against a specific commercial DP grade. To achieve a DP microstructure with equiaxed and well-dispersed martensite, the concept of segregation neutralisation was utilised, where the ratio of Mn to Si elements was decreased (from 7.4 to 0.3) to neutralise the effect of Mn segregation on generating the banded martensite. A combination of micromechanical modelling simulations and in-situ notch tensile testing (within an SEM) was employed to compare the micro strain field and void formation rate between the segregation-neutralised and the benchmark grades. The benchmark grade showed extensive void coalescence along the direction of shear bands in the tensile sample after the average tensile strain of 30%. In contrast, no void coalescence was observed in the segregation-neutralised DP steel even at the average tensile strain of 80% just before failure. As a result, post-uniform elongation in the segregation-neutralised grade increased to 63.3%, compared to 30.1% in the benchmark grade.

Design and Assessment of an Austenitic Stainless Alloy for Laser Powder Bed Additive Manufacturing

Recent developments in metallic additive manufacturing (AM) processes for the production of high-performance industrial pieces have been hampered by the limited availability of reliably processable or printable alloys. To date, most of the alloys used in AM are commercial grades that have been previously optimized for different manufacturing techniques. This study aims to design new alloys specifically tailored for AM processes, to minimize defects in the final products and to optimize their properties. A computational approach is proposed to design novel and optimized austenitic alloy compositions. This method integrates a suite of predictive tools, including machine learning, calculation of phase diagrams (CALPHAD) and physical models, all piloted by a multi-objective genetic algorithm. Within this framework, several material-dependent criteria are examined and their impact on properties and on the occurrence of defects is identified. To validate our approach, experimental tests are performed on a selected alloy composition: powder is produced by gas atomization and samples are fabricated by laser powder bed fusion. The microstructure and mechanical properties of the alloys are evaluated and its printability is compared with a commercial 316L stainless steel taken as a reference. The optimized alloy performs similarly to 316L in terms of coefficient of thermal expansion, hardness and elongation, but has a 17% lower yield strength and ultimate tensile strength (UTS), indicating that further optimization is required.

A novel approach for the active‐mode indirect drying of food grains with high temperature thermal energy storage system

AbstractThis article introduces a novel approach for the active‐mode indirect drying of food grains using an independent high‐temperature thermal energy storage (TES) system. It uses commercial software to conduct numerical analysis of a solar drying unit fused with indirect TES. Employing commercial grade phase change material X‐180, solar drying unit incorporates scheffler dishes, receiver, TES, thermic fluid pump, air blower, and dryer fitted with a radiator. Heat transfer fluid Thermenol‐66 has been used to facilitate the heat transfer from receiver to TES and dryer. Two distinct TES designs, one without fins (case A) and the other with fins (case B), have been used to encapsulate phase change material and facilitate the flow of heat transfer fluid. The dynamic performance of independent solar drying unit components was examined at various mass flow rates during charging and discharging process. The results demonstrate that adding 42 fins, i.e. (case B), reduces the charging and discharging time to 22% and 24%, respectively. Due to high charging and discharging power, the rate of temperature change in case B is 19% higher compared to case A. To maintain drying quality, the dryer should have a continual flow of hot air at a constant temperature. Therefore, utilization of the TES, case A, provides a significantly higher uniformity index and a more extended drying period during the discharge process.

Analytical evaluation of oil and water obtained from demulsification of crude oil using cashew (<i>Anacardium occidentale</i>) nutshell liquid

The physiochemical characteristics of oil and water obtained from the demusifier treatment of crude oil using equal concentrations of Cashew nutshell liquid (CSNL) and a commercial grade demulsifier (DX077) were evaluated. Results obtained shows that basic sediment and water (BSW) of the crude after treatment with CSNL and DXO77 were 17.5 and 17.9 % respectively which was 0.4% apart. The total oil and grease (TOG) and total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) of the produced water after treatment with CSNL were 24.4 and 21.7 mg/l respectively while results after treatment with DXO77 were 23.7 and 20.5 mg/l respectively. The TOG and TPH of the produced water after demulsifier treatment with CSNL and DX077 were within acceptable limit of < 30.0 mg/l as specified by Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR). Analyses of the same crude oil before demulsifier treatment gave a lower BSW of 9.50 % as well as an emulsion band of 16.2 % indicating improper oil/water separation. The TOG and TPH of the produced water before demulsifier treatment were 42.5 and 38.7 mg/l respectively which were above DPR specification. Disposal of produced water with high TOG and TPH into the environment can lead to the release of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into the ecosystem resulting in environmental pollution as well as other health hazards. Results obtained also show that the water density, pH, electrical conductivity, salinity and chloride of the produced water after demulsifier treatment with CSNL and DX077 were within DPR specification. Reinjecting produced water with high salinity, chloride and conductivity into the reservoir can reduce oil recovery especially from sandstone and carbonate reservoirs. CSNL proved to be an effective demulsifier and is preferrable to the synthetic demulsifier (DX077) because it is more environmentally friendly owing to its green nature.

Effect of sensor noise characteristics and calibration errors on the choice of IMU-sensor fusion algorithms

This paper focuses on accurate and precise orientation estimation with consumer-grade MEMS-IMUs for ‘slow’ orientation change and ‘short’-time applications. A simulation platform is developed to predict a suitable algorithm for a MEMS-IMU of known noise specifications, improving similar works. Experimentally measured noise characteristics of two commercial grade IMUs (MPU9250 and BNO055) are used in the simulation platform to generate simulated data and evaluate some popular orientation estimation algorithms along with two new Kalman filter-based algorithms. Real experiments are conducted with the same IMUs using an electromagnetic tracker as reference sensor. The output orientation results for two new improved algorithms are compared with other algorithms in simulations and real experiments. We show that the choice of the ‘best’ algorithm varies with the noise characteristics of individual sensors within the sensor module. The two new best-performing algorithms tested achieve<1˚ RMS angle error for the two low-cost consumer-grade IMUs.

Role of vacuum diffusing temperature and time on improving hysteresis characteristics of grain boundary diffused NdFeB permanent magnets by Dy-metal vapor sorption

This study investigates the impact of vacuum grain boundary diffusion (GBD) conditions on sintered NdFeB permanent magnets using Dy-vapor sorption. The study analyzed variables such as vacuum diffusing treatment temperature (T), time (t), and diffusion depth (d). In a 4.5 mm-thick cube-shaped magnet, Dy diffusion increased intrinsic coercivity from 13.13 kOe to 20.56 kOe (56.6 %) with only a 1.5 % reduction in remanence for a modified two-stage grain boundary diffused magnet (940 °C/8 h + 950 °C/0.5 h), achieving commercial G52SH grade. This enhancement exceeds previous GBD studies on non-rare earth compounds or alloys. FE-EPMA analysis attributed the increased coercivity to a continuous Dy-rich region within Nd2Fe14B grains and a thicker core-shell structure forming the (Nd,Dy)2Fe14B phase, which suppresses reversed domain formation. Glow discharge optical emission spectrometer (GDOES) analysis revealed a 2.57 times increase in peak Dy content and a 1.9 times increase in deeper Dy content at 10 μm from the magnet surface compared to the original process. These findings indicate that Dy vapor sorption, combined with a modified two-stage vacuum heat treatment, enhances both the concentration and depth of Dy grain boundary diffusion. Furthermore, the resulting magnet has a clean surface without additional cleaning, beneficial for producing low-cost, high-performance NdFeB magnets.

Coarse-Grained Molecular Dynamics Simulation of Heterogeneous Polysorbate 80 Surfactants and their Interactions with Small Molecules and Proteins.

Polysorbate 80 (PS80) is widely used in pharmaceutical formulations, and its commercial grades exhibit certain levels of structural heterogeneity. The objective of this study was to apply coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations to better understand the effect of PS80 heterogeneity on micelle self-assembly, the loading of hydrophobic small molecules into the micelle core, and the interactions between PS80 and a protein, bovine serum albumin (BSA). Four representative PS80 variants with different head and tail structures were studied. Our simulations found that PS80 structural heterogeneity could affect blank micelle properties such as solvent-accessible surface area, aggregation number, and micelle aspect ratio. It was also found that hydrophobic small molecules such as ethinyl estradiol preferentially partitioned into the PS80 micelle core and PS80 dioleates formed a more hydrophobic core compared to PS80 monooleates. Furthermore, multiple PS80 molecules could bind to BSA, and PS80 heterogeneity profoundly changed the binding ratio as well as the surfactant-protein contact area.

Autonomous post‐disaster indoor navigation and survivor detection using low‐cost micro aerial vehicles

AbstractThis paper introduces an innovative autonomous survivor detection pipeline tailored for low‐cost micro aerial vehicles (MAVs) operating in post‐disaster indoor environments. This consists of three main components: (1) a novel pipeline for survivor geotagging, which includes autonomous navigation, mapping, and detection of survivors using thermal images; (2) a navigation strategy to ensure complete thermal scanning coverage for survivor detection using low‐cost commercial grade thermal camera; and (3) robust and accurate survivor detection using YOLOv8x and thermal imaging. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed framework, first, the autonomous navigation algorithm is simulated in Robotic Operating System (ROS) and experimentally validated under different layouts. Second, the YOLOv8x algorithm is pretrained and achieves high accuracy. Finally, a real‐world implementation was conducted with partially covered survivors in a simulated post‐disaster environment. The results demonstrated the proposed pipeline can accurately map the layout of the environment and identify all survivors. This study demonstrates that affordable MAVs with basic thermal cameras can be effectively used to geotag survivors to support rescue missions during post‐disaster events.

Effects of spatial microstructure characteristics on mechanical properties of dual phase steel by inverse analysis and machine learning approach

This work aims to investigate complex relationship between microstructure characteristics and mechanical properties of dual phase (DP) steel through an inverse analysis based on Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) method combined with meso-scale material modelling. In this framework, a machine learning approach as surrogate model was developed, in which support vector regression (SVR) and artificial neural network (ANN) were trained using results from representative volume element (RVE) simulations coupled with damage model, which were previously calibrated with experimental data of commercial DP steel grades. Moreover, specific microstructure descriptors including Moran’s index, martensite band index and martensite orientation were proposed for representing effects of spatial distributions of martensitic phase. As a result, inverse predictions of microstructure characteristics of DP steels for achieving defined yield strength, tensile strength, uniform elongation and toughness were presented. The inverse analysis could solve the non-uniqueness of structure–property relationships of steel, whereby significances of dispersed structures and aligned martensite bands were highlighted in details. The approach fairly dealt with multi-target optimization and high dimensional problem, which can be further applied as a guideline for designing DP microstructures with enhanced mechanical properties.

Microstructure, mechanical properties and cutting performance of CVD Ti(B,N) coatings

TiB0.19N1.06, TiB0.70N0.66, and TiB1.23N0.19 coatings were deposited on cemented carbide via the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method based on the calculated phase diagrams of the Ti–B–N system. The microstructures, mechanical properties and cutting performances of the Ti(B,N) coatings were systematically studied via X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), nanoindentation, etc. The coating compositions obtained via thermodynamic calculations show the same trend as the experimental values. The XRD and selected area electron diffraction (SAED) results of the coatings reveal that the phase assemblages transform from a dominant cubic structure of TiB0.19N1.06 to a hybrid of cubic and hexagonal structure of TiB0.70N0.66 and finally to a dominant hexagonal structure of TiB1.23N0.19. According to the XPS results, the TiB0.19N1.06 and TiB0.70N0.66 coatings consist of the crystalline phases TiN and TiB2 as well as amorphous BN and TiB, and the TiB1.23N0.19 coating mainly consists of the crystalline phases TiB2 and TiN. The hardness values of the TiB0.19N1.06, TiB0.70N0.66, and TiB1.23N0.19 coatings are 33.6, 35.1, and 39.1 GPa, respectively. The content of amorphous phase in the Ti(B,N) coatings decreases while the hardness increases as the B content increases and N content decreases. The TiB0.19N1.06 coating exhibits a composite structure of nanocrystallite embedded in amorphous matrix. The TiB1.23N0.19 coated tool prepared in this study demonstrates excellent performance in milling titanium alloy TC18 with a long cutting life up to 56.1 min, an increase of ∼9 % and ∼28 % compared to the TiB1.98 coated tool and commercial grade deposited with CVD TiB2 coating, respectively.

DEVELOPMENT AND PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF A MODEL CUTTING FLUID DEVELOPED FROM SHEA BUTTER OIL

This research was carried out to develop a model cutting fluid from Shea Butter oil and evaluate its performance in relation to temperature and surface roughness when compared to a commercial cutting fluid. The effectiveness of the cutting fluid was evaluated on a mild steel using a turning operation on the lathe machine. Temperature variations during the turning operation were measured using an infra-red gun thermometer while surface roughness was evaluated by employing a surface roughness tester. In this work Taguchi method was used to guide the selection of machine parameters such as cutting speed (rev/min), feed rate (mm/rev), and depth of cut (mm). Using Minitab, the cutting temperature and resulting surface roughness were measured for both the developed cutting and commercial fluids. The results obtained for the average cutting temperature of ~ 30oC and overall surface roughness value of 0.32μm for shea butter oil show a significant difference from that of ~ 35oC and 0.47 μm respectively for commercial grade cutting fluids. These results show that the shea butter oil-based cutting fluid not only exhibits great potential but also surpasses the current capabilities of commercial cutting fluids in terms of its cooling and surface finishing performances.