Effect of the alumina nanofluid concentration on minimum quantity lubrication hard machining for sustainable production

Abstract

The use of vegetable oil-based nanofluids for minimum quantity lubrication hard machining has become a new research trend, proven to bring out very promising results and attained much attention to reduce the negative effects of using cutting fluids on the environment. The enhancement of thermal conductivity and viscosity of nanofluids helps to reduce the values of the friction coefficient, and the cooling lubricant properties are significantly improved when compared to the base fluids. In this paper, a set of optimized minimum quantity lubrication hard milling parameter combinations is obtained by using response surface methodology. Based on the optimized results, the study of the concentration effect of Al2O3 soybean oil-based nanofluid used for minimum quantity lubrication hard milling performance of 60Si2Mn hardened steel is investigated to validate and make further observations. It is noted that the appropriate nanoconcentration (1.0–1.5\u2009wt%) and cutting conditions are observed to improve the cutting performance using soybean oil-based nanofluid. Increasing the nanoparticle concentration enhances the thermal conductivity and viscosity of the base fluids, which lead to reduce the cutting temperature and cutting forces and prolong the tool life from 80 to 115\u2009min (increasing about 43.8%). Especially, the surface roughness (Ra, Rz) improves and remains stable during hard cutting. Hence, the application of soybean oil-based nanofluid in minimum quantity lubrication hard machining is enlarged without losing anti-toxic, economic, and environment-friendly properties.