Increase In Flank Wear Research Articles

An Investigation of Residual Stresses after the Turning of High-Tempered Bearing Steel

This study is focused on analysing residual stresses (RSs) after turning high-tempered bearing steel through the use of the X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique. Phase transformations expressed in terms of the near-surface white layer (WL) and the corresponding microhardness profiles are correlated with the RSs as well as the depth of the RS profiles. Normal and shear components of RS and FWHM (full width at half maximum) of the diffraction peaks are analysed as a function of cutting insert flank wear as well as the cutting speed. It was found that the influence of tool wear prevails over cutting speed, RSs tend to shift into the compressive region with increasing tool flank wear, and the valuable shear components of RSs can be found in the near-surface region when the cutting inserts of lower flank wear are employed. The increasing flank wear also increases the depth in which the compressive RSs can be found. Furthermore, surface RSs are affected by the phase transformation process (formation of re-hardened WL) as well as the superimposing mechanical and thermal load.

Effect of tool wear on machining quality in milling Cf/SiC composites with PCD tool

Carbon fiber reinforced silicon carbide ceramic matrix (Cf/SiC) composites have great application potential in aerospace. But their high hardness and anisotropy cause rapid tool wear during machining, which affects machining quality and efficiency. However, tool wear mechanisms in milling Cf/SiC composites are still unclear. There is a lack of research on the relationship between tool wear and cutting performance. In this paper, milling experiments on 2.5D Cf/SiC composites were conducted using polycrystalline diamond (PCD) cutters. The tool wear mechanisms and effect of tool wear on surface roughness, milling force, burr damage, surface microstructure and chips were explored. The results show that abrasive wear caused by chips continuously scraping tool material and diamond particle fragmentation and falling off caused by sprouting and expansion of cracks inside grain were primary causes of tool failure. The formation mechanism of burr damage was analyzed. It was proved that the peak radius of cutting edge Rpeak and flank wear VB could reflect cutting capabilities. It was found that increasing flank wear had regrinding effects on the cutting edge, which affects the peak radius. The degree of burr damage was related to these two parameters. Tool wear changed the surface formation mechanism. Before tool wear, carbon fibers were primarily removed through the micro-brittle fracture, with low surface roughness. The flank face and chips scratched the workpiece like abrasive grains after tool wear, leaving scratches on the surface and increasing surface roughness from 1.27 μm to 2.25 μm.

Investigations of tool wear of coated carbide tool while machining X-750 nickel alloy

Modern advanced structures and machinery rely heavily on advanced materials. Ni-based superalloys have applications in nuclear power plants, gas engines, airplane engines, turbines, etc. All these environments have high temperatures, thus; the material is selected such that it demonstrates sufficient strength at high temperatures. Ni-based superalloys present this characteristic due to their “high strength temperature resistant” (HSTR) nature. In the present work, an attempt has been made to machine X-750 nickel alloy on conventional machining considering rotational speed (TRS), feed (F) and depth of cut (DoC) as input machining variables. The coated carbide insert has been used at different machining cutting of input machining variables. The tool wear is assumed as an output parameter and the effect of input of parameters on the tool wear has been investigated. It has been observed that with the increase in rotational speed, feed and depth of cut the value of flank wear increases. The main mechanisms of tool wear exist in the present study are abrasion, adhesion and chipping, which are observed after the analysis of tool inserts by optical as well as scanning electron microscopy. The optimized setting for minimum TW (0.2716 mm) is TRS: 1362RPM; DoC: 01 mm and F: 0.07 mm/rev.

Turning of hardened AISI H13 steel with recently developed S3P-AlTiSiN coated carbide tool using MWCNT mixed nanofluid under minimum quantity lubrication

This article aims to analyze the tool vibration, surface roughness, and chip morphology in hard turning of hot work AISI H13 steel under multi-walled carbon nanotubes mixed nanofluid with minimum quantity lubrication. Recently developed new-generation nanocomposite AlTiSiN coating deposited on carbide insert via scalable pulsed power plasma (S3P) strategy is used as cutting tool material. The experiments associated with 30 number of trials are performed by considering various machining parameters that includes cutting speed, nose radius, depth of cut, and feed. In perspective of predictive modeling and multi-response optimization, response surface methodology has been engaged as a means to minimize the tool vibration and surface roughness. At last, with the measured tool life and based on the Gilbert’s machining economic model, a distinctive cost analysis has been implemented to demonstrate the cost-effectiveness of coated carbide tool in hard turning. Statistical analysis confirms that nose radius with 36.65% has the highest contribution for surface roughness and cutting speed with 53.88% has the highest contribution for tool vibration. Increased flank wear and tool vibration are responsible for degradation of machined surface finish. Machining under nanofluid-MQL, chip morphology revealed the production of segmented type serrated saw-toothed chips. At higher cutting speed resulted: (a) obvious shape of saw tooth chip, (b) increase of distance among saw tooth, (c) reduction in chip segmentation frequency, (d) decrease of chip thickness. At optimum combination of process variables ( v = 55 m/min, d = 0.2 mm, r = 1.2 mm, f = 0.07 mm/rev), the life of AlTiSiN coated carbide tool is found to be 42 min under nanofluid-MQL and estimated the total machining cost expenditure per finished part of Rs. 153.52. New-generation AlTiSiN coated carbide tools can be competently and productively utilized for machining of hot work tool steel under ecologically cognizant minimum quantity cooling-lubrication, is the most accepted in industrial applications.

Using tool wear to increase process stability when milling Al7075 and AISI 4140+QT

One of the main limits of productivity during cutting processes is the occurrence of regenerative chatter. Due to these self-excited vibrations, the load capacity of the machine components, the tool as well as the machine performance cannot be fully utilized. There are several methods to stabilize the milling process. One is the use of increased process damping, which results from the contact of the tool’s flank face and the workpiece. The flank wear land naturally increases the contact between tool and workpiece. However, this effect has not been used to increase productivity in milling processes. This paper investigates with experiments and numerical simulations how tool wear affects process stability in milling of aluminum and steel. Therefore slot milling and side milling tests were carried out with tools of various states of flank wear. It could be shown that increasing flank wear allows to raise the depth of cut ap up to 300% in machining aluminum and perform the machining process with a higher productivity.

Advanced calculation of the stress distribution in milling tools during cutting under consideration of residual stresses and tool wear

Milling is an irreplaceable technology for finishing turbomachinery components made of nickel-based alloys. Cutting tools in milling are exposed to high thermomechanical loads causing tool wear or ultimately tool failure. The initial condition of the tool’s surface layer determines the propagation of tool wear. “Surface layer” denotes the zone near the tool surface, which is affected mechanically, thermally, and chemically during the manufacturing process of the tool (e.g. due to grinding, polishing). So far, only limited knowledge is available on the specific effects of wear-induced changes in tool geometry as well as of residual stresses on the distribution of stresses in the cutting wedge of milling tools. This publication presents a method to consider residual stresses of cutting tools and tool wear in a 2D FEM chip formation model for detailed analysis of certain tool failure phenomena in the milling process. In order to represent a depth distribution of residual stresses in the surface layer of the uncoated tool in the simulation, residual stress measurements at grinded milling tools were performed. Tool wear was taken into account by adapting the geometry of the cutting tool. The geometry changes were based on measurements of the width of the flank wear land and of the cutting edge radius. Principal stresses and von Mises equivalent stress distribution were analyzed. The described method may improve the understanding of surface layer effects on tool life of milling tools. With decreasing chip thickness, a second, more localized zone of tensile stresses was formed at the rake face subsurface, which can be critical in terms of fracture. With compressive residual stresses and with increased flank wear, these critical tensile stresses were reduced or even eliminated.

In-process monitoring and empirical modeling of the tool wear in turning of aluminum alloys using thermoelectric signals

Tool wear is an important criterion for economic machining. It does not only determine the tool life, but also affects the surface layer properties of metallic components and thus their performance. In addition to the machining parameters, there are numerous other influencing factors like batch variations, workpiece inhomogeneities, process vibrations, or the formation of built-up edges that can impact the wear progression. Consequently, it is difficult to predict the tool wear analytically. Therefore, the determination of the tool condition during machining is of great importance. The tool-workpiece thermocouple enables the in-process measurement of a thermoelectric voltage and current during machining generated by the Seebeck effect at the interface between two electrically conductive materials. Thus, the thermoelectric signals are sensitive for the changing contact interface between the tool and the specimen. To allow for an in-process characterization of the tool wear, finding an empirical relationship between the flank wear land width of cemented carbide indexable inserts and the thermoelectric signals in turning is aspired. To vary the flank wear land width in a reproducible manner, tools with a flank face chamfer resulting in a clearance angle of 0° and five different flank face land widths (80 µm – 280 µm) are used. These geometrical properties are measured with a 3D laser scanning microscope. Afterwards, cylindrical specimens of the aluminum alloy EN AW-2017 are machined by turning applying the modified tools and cutting speeds in the range of 300 m/min to 550 m/min. The depth of cut (0.4 mm) and the feed (0.04 mm) are kept constant. Besides the tool-workpiece thermocouple, the components of the resultant force are measured by a dynamometer. The geometrical properties of the machined surfaces are characterized using a stylus measurement instrument.The experimental investigations show an increase of the temperature and the components of the resultant forces with increasing flank wear land width, which impacts the geometrical properties of the surface. An empirical regression model derived from the in-process measurement results depicts the relationship between the thermoelectric signals, the force components, and the changing area of the tool which is in contact with the specimen. Consequently, the combined in-process measurement of the process forces and thermoelectric signals allows for an in-process determination of the tool wear progression and therefore enables the prevention of a strong impairment of the surface-layer properties by a timely tool change or a controlled adjustment of the machining parameters.

Numerical and experimental investigation of tool geometry effect on residual stresses in orthogonal machining of Inconel 718

Residual stress has become more important than ever with the increasing performance requirement of components especially for those applied in safety-critical areas. As the machining process is fundamentally correlated with the acquired component properties, it is essential to fully understand the formation mechanism of residual stresses in the cutting process and its influence on the performance of the component. This paper presents results based on numerical and experimental analysis on the effect of tool geometry on thermal-mechanical load and residual stresses in orthogonal machining Inconel718 alloy. The Coupled Eulerian-Lagrangian (CEL) method is used to simulate the effect of tool geometry on temperatures, forces, equivalent plastic strains, and residual stresses. The local normal/tangential stress is introduced to determine the degree of the tensile plastic deformation induced by the tool. It is observed that a negative rake angle and a sharp edge radius tool tend to generate more compressive stress on the machined surface than the ones generated with positive rake angle tools and/or lager edge radius. Besides, an increase in flank wear produces less magnitude of compressive stress in subsurface due to a decreased local normal stress caused by increased flank contact length.

Monitoring of components made of duplex steel after turning as a function of flank wear by the use of Barkhausen noise emission

This paper discusses the use of the Barkhausen noise technique to monitor duplex steel components after turning. The surface of duplex steel 1.4470 after face turning is investigated as a function of increasing tool flank wear (VB, width of the flank wear) as the major factor affecting severe plastic deformation of the machined surface at elevated temperatures. The Barkhausen noise emission and its extracted features are correlated with residual stresses as well as microstructure. It was found that the subsurface layers are preferentially strained in the cutting direction due to severe plastic deformation during the cutting. For this reason, the machined surface exhibits remarkable stress and magnetic anisotropy and the preferential orientation of the duplex steel matrix plays a major role with respect to the increasing Barkhausen noise emission with increasing flank wear VB. On the other hand, the contribution of increasing dislocation density is only minor.

Machinability Study of Hardened 1045 Steel When Milling with Ceramic Cutting Inserts.

Intermittent machining using ceramic tools such as hard milling is a challenging task due to the severe mechanical shock that the inserts undergo during machining and the brittleness of ceramic inserts. This study investigates the machinability of hardened steel AISI 1045 during face milling using SiAlON and whisker (SiCW) based ceramic inserts. The main focus seeks to identify the effects of cutting parameters, milling configuration, edge preparation and work material hardness on machinability indicators such as resultant cutting force, power consumption and flank tool wear. The effects of these varying cutting conditions on performance characteristics were investigated using a Taguchi orthogonal array design L32 (21 44) and evaluated using ANOVA. Results indicate lower resultant cutting forces were recorded with honed edge inserts of SiAlON ceramic grade. In addition, a decrease in resultant cutting forces was associated with reduced feed rates and increased hardness. The feed rate and cutting speed were also identified as the greatest influencing factors in the amount of cutting power. The main wear mechanisms responsible for flank wear on the ceramic inserts are micro-scale abrasion and micro-chipping. Increased flank wear was observed at low cutting speed and high feed rates, while micro-chipping mostly ensued from the cyclic loading of the radial tool edge form, which is more susceptible to impact fragmentation. Thus, the use of tools with chamfered tool-edge preparation greatly improved observed wear values. Additional confirmation tests were also conducted to validate the results of the tests.

Study on the cutting performance in machining assembled hardened steel workpiece with torus cutter

Torus cutters are increasingly used in machining high-hardness materials because of high processing efficiency. However, due to the large hardness variation in assembled hardened steel workpiece, the tool wear occurs easily in machining process. This severely affects the machined surface quality. Here, we conduct a research on the tool wear and the machined surface quality in milling assembled hardened steel mold with a torus cutter. The experimental results show the abrasive wear mechanism dominates the initial tool wear stage of the torus cutter. As the tool wear intensifies, the adhesive wear gradually occurs due to the effect of alternating stress and impact load. Thus, the mixing effect of the abrasive and adhesive wears further accelerates tool wear, resulting in occurrence of obvious crater wear band on the rake face and coating tearing area on the flank face. Finally, the cutter is damaged by the fatigue wear mechanism, reducing seriously the cutting performance. With increase of flank wear, moreover, there are increasingly obvious differences in both the surface morphology and the cutting force at the two sides of the joint seam of the assembled hardened steel parts, including larger height difference at the two sides of the joint seam and sudden change of cutting force, as a result, leading to decreasing cutting stability and deteriorating seriously machined surface quality.

Condition Monitoring in Drilling Operation based on Vibration Signals

Tool condition monitoring is the efficient process for all machining managing operation and the maintenance of machinery operation. Tool condition monitoring implies effective production cost, the rate of tool life, tool quality, dimensional accuracy in terms of tolerance and surface finish in machine shop. Here the machining operation is fully depending on the whims & fancies of the operator. So when a new person operating the machine it makes more troubles in terms to find out the tool wearing point and it make operation difficulty by the operator. To overcome this difficulty a systematic methodology required for machining operation. This paper deals with monitoring the condition on the drilling operation with the help of Accelerometer sensor a physical vibration model 8636C50 having a broad band sensitivity of Sensitivity (±5%) 100.0mV/g and resonant frequency up to 22.0 kHz and performing the drilling operation on EN 24 steel at various operation parameters and analyzing the time domain signal response and frequency domain response graph and implemented analyze the feasibility of proposed methodology for practical applications. Further, the Lab View was used to predict amplitude of work piece vibration which determines the tool condition after various experimental tests. In the time domain, the characteristic parameter during drill wear represent RMS value increase in flank wear and also shows the linear relationship between these two. In the frequency domain, the characteristic parameters during drill failure represent the magnitude of vibration amplitude and the increase in flank wear. Here multilayer Artificial Neural Network (ANN) model, Fuzzy Neural Network and Taguchi Method have been trained with the experimental data using back propagation algorithm. Condition monitoring of drilling is fully depending on the vibration signals. Based on the vibration signal the tool wear point is found out. Experiments results indicated the effect of unconditional drilling operation and detected the tool failure and proper operating condition for drilling machining.

Tool condition monitoring in the milling process with vegetable based cutting fluids using vibration signatures

AbstractThe major difficulty faced in a machining process is predicting the failure of cutting tools and analyzing the stipulated time for tool replacement. The former and latter can be achieved through a monitoring system that surveys the effective condition. This present research work is focused on analyzing tool condition by adopting a vibration signature during the machining of a hybrid aluminum alloy composite using various coolants. The experiments were conducted employing various tools under optimum process parameters utilizing vegetable based cutting oil as a coolant. During the machining process, a vibration signature from the workpiece was acquired using an NI 6221 M series DAQ card allowing for various time domain features to be extracted. The arithmetic mean and skewness significantly increased for dull tools. Based on the extracted features, a decision making algorithm for tool condition monitoring system has been proposed. The result shows that the features extracted increased consecutively with an increase in flank wear.

Effects of cutting conditions on the microstructure and residual stress of white and dark layers in cutting hardened steel

The microstructure and residual stresses of white and dark layers formed during a hard-cutting process have significant influence on the surface integrity of a workpiece. Therefore, the microstructure and residual stress of white and dark layers at low and high cutting speeds, along with different levels of flank wear are discussed, based on the experiment and simulation results. The orthogonal hard-cutting experiments on AISI 52100 steel were performed using polycrystalline cubic boron nitride (PCBN) inserts. A finite element model was developed to simulate the hard-cutting process. The microstructure and residual stress of the white and dark layers were analyzed through scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and an X-ray diffraction stress analyzer. The results indicate that the thickness of the white and dark layers is determined by the cutting heat and plastic strain in the subsurface. The grain size of the white and dark layers increases with cutting speed and flank wear. The formation mechanism of the dark layer changes from dynamic recovery to dynamic recrystallization with increase in flank wear. The residual compressive stress in the white layer at low cutting speeds is mainly caused by the microstructure of the white layer and plastic deformation, and the residual tensile stress in the white layer at high cutting speeds is mainly caused by the cutting heat. Tensile stress is induced in the white and dark layers when the workpiece is cut by a worn tool, and the tensile stress is caused by the high cutting heat and microstructure of the dark layer.

Investigation on Cutting Force, Flank Wear, and Surface Roughness in Machining of the A356-TiB2/TiC in-situ Composites

This article reveals the experimental investigation on the machinability of A356-TiB2/TiC in-situ composites prepared by a mixed salt reaction system. The fabricated composites are characterized by Energy dispersive analysis (EDAX), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and micro-hardness analysis. Multi-coated tungsten carbide tool was used to examine the influence of TiB2/TiC reinforcement ratio on machinability behaviour of composites. The variations in cutting speed, feed rate and depth of cut upon cutting force, surface roughness and flank wear were examined. The experimental results revealed that the enhancement of a reinforcement ratio causes the decrease in cutting force and increase in flank wear and surface roughness. Higher flank wear is observed, when machining the A356-TiB2/TiC composites at higher cutting speed due to the generation of high temperature at the machining interface. The increment in surface roughness, flank wear and cutting force is experienced at higher depth of cut and feed rate. Further, the mechanisms of chip formation and surface generation under different machining parameters are addressed. The outcome of this experimental investigation helps to utilize the turning process for machining the in-situ composites at economic machining rate without compromising the surface quality.

Research on the Surface Characteristics of Hardened Steel with Variable Chamfer Edge PCBN Insert by High-Speed Hard Turning

In this paper, high-speed cutting tests for hardened steel were carried out where PCBN inserts with variable chamfer and fixed chamfer were employed. The aim of the tests was to investigate the influence of cutting speed and tool wear of variable chamfer insert on the machined surface topography, micro-characteristics and micro-hardness, where comparison and analysis of the machined surface properties were also carried out for the surface produced by the fixed chamfer tool. Experimental results showed that machined surface morphologies become more complex and rough, and peaks appear to a trend towards steepness, with the flank wear increase of the variable chamfer tool. At the same time, the thickness of white layer, hardening depth and hardening degree of the machined surface increase dramatically. With the increase in cutting speed of the variable chamfer tool, it is of primary importance to consider phase transition effects caused by thermal load, which will result in increase in the thickness of white layer on the machined surface. Moreover, it will also lead to decrease in the thickness and deformation degree of plastically deformed layer caused by mechanical load. Compared to the fixed chamfer tool, the cutting force generated by the variable chamfer tool is relatively small, where the flank wear area is also smaller and the groove wear marks is shallower. Therefore, better surface roughness can be obtained by utilizing the variable chamfer tool. In particular, the gap between the roughness of the machined surface formed by two tools becomes more pronounced in the scenarios of high speed and severe wear. Moreover, the thickness of white layer, the depth and degree of hardened layer are relatively small for the variable chamfer tool. Therefore, the surface properties produced by the variable chamfer tool would be more desirable.

Hard turning of AISI 4340 steel using coated carbide insert: Surface roughness, tool wear, chip morphology and cost estimation

The present study addresses surface roughness, flank wear and chip morphology during dry hard turning of AISI 4340 steel (49 HRC) using CVD (TiN/TiCN/Al2O3/TiN) multilayer coated carbide tool. Three factors (cutting speed, feed and depth of cut) and three-level factorial experiment designs with Taguchi’s L9 OA and statistical analysis of variance were performed in order to investigate the effect of these cutting parameters on the tool and workpiece in terms of flank wear and surface roughness. The results shows that surface roughness and flank wear are statistically significant influenced by feed and cutting speed. In fact, increase in cutting speed resulted in better surface finish as well as increase in flank wear. For better understanding of the cutting process, surface topography of machined workpieces, wear mechanisms of worn coated carbide tool and chip morphology of generated chips are observed by scanning electron microscope (SEM). Consequently, MRA was adopted to develop mathematical model for each response, along with various diagnostic tests were performed to check the validity and efficacy of the proposed model. Finally, to justify the economical feasibility of coated carbide tool in hard turning application, a cost analysis was performed based on Gilbert’s approach by evaluating the tool life under optimized cutting condition (suggested by response optimization technique) and estimated that the total machining cost per part is Rs.8.21 for machining of hardened AISI 4340 steel with coated carbide tool.

Experimental investigation of surface roughness, flank wear, chip morphology and cost estimation during machining of hardened AISI 4340 steel with coated carbide insert

BackgroundNow-a-days, newer hardened steel materials are coming rapidly into the market due to its wide applications in various fields of engineering. So the machinability investigation of these steel materials is one of the prime concern for practicing engineers, prior to actual machining.MethodsThe present study addresses surface roughness, flank wear and chip morphology during dry hard turning of AISI 4340 steel (49 HRC) using CVD (TiN/TiCN/Al2O3/TiN) multilayer coated carbide tool. Three factors (cutting speed, feed and depth of cut) and three-level factorial experiment designs with Taguchi’s L9 Orthogonal array (OA) and statistical analysis of variance (ANOVA) were performed to investigate the consequent effect of these cutting parameters on the tool and workpiece in terms of flank wear and surface roughness. For better understanding of the cutting process, surface topography of machined workpieces, wear mechanisms of worn coated carbide tool and chip morphology of generated chips were observed by scanning electron microscope (SEM). Consequently, multiple regression analysis was adopted to develop mathematical model for each response, along with various diagnostic tests were performed to check the validity and efficacy of the proposed model. Finally, to justify the economical feasibility of coated carbide tool in hard turning application, a cost analysis was performed based on Gilbert’s approach by evaluating the tool life under optimized cutting condition (suggested by response optimization technique).ResultsThe results shows that surface roughness and flank wear are statistically significant influenced by feed and cutting speed. In fact, increase in cutting speed resulted in better surface finish as well as increase in flank wear. Tool wear describes the gradual failure of cutting tool, caused grooves by abrasion due to rubbing effect of flank land with hard particles in the machined surface and high cutting temperature. Chip morphology confirms the formation of saw-tooth type of chip with severity of chip serration due to cyclic crack propagation caused by plastic deformation. The total machining cost per part is found to be $0.13 (i.e. in Indian rupees Rs. 8.21) for machining of hardened AISI 4340 steel with coated carbide tool.ConclusionsFrom the study, the effectiveness and potential of multilayer TiN/TiCN/Al2O3/TiN coated carbide tool for hard turning process during dry cutting condition possesses high yielding and cost-effective benefit to substitute the traditional cylindrical grinding operation. Apart, it also contributes reasonable option to costlier CBN and ceramic tools.

プリント配線板の小径穴あけ加工における工具摩耗が加工穴品質におよぼす影響

In the current manufacturing of printed circuit boards (PCBs), micro-drills are generally used to make smaller diameter through-holes in PCBs. The purpose of this paper is to clarify the effect of flank wear and margin wear on drilled hole quality. Series of PCBs drilling tests are carried out to investigate hole quality, hole location accuracy and hole wall roughness. The cutting torque and cutting force are measured by Kistler 9329 and 9257B respectively. Detailed observation of drilled hole surface is made by SEM. The hole location accuracy does not get worse with increasing flank wear of drill. On the other hand, the hole location accuracy becomes worse with increasing margin wear of drill. The hole wall roughness when using the margin wear type drill is worse than using the flank wear type drill. In addition the cutting torque when using the margin wear type drill is larger than using the flank wear type drill.

Experimental Results on Lamellar-Type Solid Lubricants in Enhancing Minimum Quantity Lubrication Machining

This paper studies the effect of various lamellar-type solid lubricants (graphite and hBN) that can be mixed into a lubricant to potentially improve the machinability of minimum quantity lubrication (MQL) machining. To examine this, the solid lubricants are classified into particles and platelets based on their aspect ratios as well as their respective sizes. In particular, the particles are classified into microparticles and nanoparticles based on their dimensions (average radius), while the platelets were classified, based on their average thickness, into two types: the “microplatelets” if the thickness is typically up to few tens of microns and the “nanoplatelets” if the thickness is well below a tenth of a micron (even down to few nanometers). Our previous work has shown that the mixture of an extremely small amount (about 0.1 wt. %) of the graphitic nanoplatelets and vegetable oil immensely enhanced the machinability of MQL machining. In this paper, many lubricants, each mixed with a particular variety of nano- or micro-platelets or one type of nanoparticles, were studied to reveal the effect of each solid lubricant on MQL machining. Prior to the MQL machining experiment, the tribological test was conducted to show that the nanoplatelets are overall more effective than the microplatelets and nanoparticles in minimizing wear despite of no significant difference in friction compared to pure vegetable oil. Consequently, the MQL ball-milling experiment was conducted with AISI 1045 steel yielding a similar trend. Surprisingly, the oil mixtures with the microplatelets increased flank wear, even compared to the pure oil lubricant when the tools with the smooth surface were used. Thus, the nanoscale thickness of these platelets is a critical requirement for the solid lubricants in enhancing the MQL machining process. However, maintaining the nanoscale thickness is not critical with the tools with the rough surfaces in enhancing the MQL process. Therefore, it is concluded that finding an optimum solid lubricant depends on not only the characteristics (material as well as morphology) of solid lubricants but also the characteristic of tool surface.