Use of sustainable cooling/lubrication strategies in improving the tribological and machining characteristics of gun metal

Abstract

The term “sustainable manufacturing” refers to both the production of sustainable products as well as the production of all products in a way that is environmentally friendly, energy efficient, and safe for workers, communities, and customers. In the context of sustainable machining, the application of non-polluting cutting fluids plays an important role in improving the machining properties. However, the machining of gun metal is difficult because of generation of friction and cutting temperature at main cutting zone. Hence, it’s very difficult to obtain the product made from gun metal at specific size and desired tolerances. A primary goal of this paper is to establish an accurate method for measuring the machining responses of gun metal with the aid of sustainable cooling strategies. The machining has been carried out using the TiAlN coated tungsten carbide inserts and the machining performance in terms of temperature, surface quality, tool wear, chip condition and power consumed is measured under distinct speed-feed and cutting regimes. The cutting parameters selected were the speed of 75 and 115 m/min and the feed rate of 0.05–0.15 mm/rev. The utilization of cryogenic carbon dioxide (cryo) results in a maximum temperature reduction, which in turn leads to an improvement in the surface quality. In comparison to other cutting settings, the SEM pictures of chip indicate a relatively low level of serration; nonetheless, there is not a significant difference between MQL and flood circumstances. Moreover, cryo-CO₂ consumed less power to machine the work material.