Machining difficult-to-cut materials had encountered several issues such as high temperature, excessive tool wear due to friction, and tensile residual stresses. In order to address the above problems, cutting fluid is employed to reduce the friction and heat generated between the tool-work interfaces. High consumption of conventional cutting fluids not only increases the machining cost but also creates an environmental burden. Therefore reducing the cutting fluid level and their sustainability is a significant challenge associated with machining processes. This research study aims to develop a novel cutting fluid and its application in Minimum Quantity Lubrication (MQL) of difficult-to-cut materials. In this study, the influence of Al2O3 nanoparticles on the Ionic Liquid (IL)-based cutting fluid is investigated.&nbsp; For this, six different ILs (immidazolium and ammonium-based) were mixed with Al2O3 nanoparticles, and their thermo-physical properties (viscosity, thermal, and wettability) were measured. Viscosity studies were conducted at a temperature ranging from 303–393 K, while thermal and wettability studies were conducted at room temperature. The experimental results of the study show that nanoparticles improve the thermo-physical properties. Jatropha Oil (JO) + Tetrabutyl ammonium bromide IL + Al2O3 shows the best results among the samples prepared. It shows an increase in viscosity by 17.87 %, an increase in thermal conductivity by 30.5 %, and a decrease in the contact angle by 32.8 %, thereby making it suitable for sustainable machining. The fluid showing the best thermophysical properties had been used in machining difficult-to-cut material. A comparative study was conducted to machine Hastelloy C-276 under dry and MQL conditions using JO+IL+Al2O3 as cutting fluid. The cutting parameters used were cutting speed, feed rate, depth of cut, and flow rate of cutting fluid. The response parameters were cutting forces, surface roughness, shear angle, and coefficient of friction. In addition to that, tool wear and chip morphology had been analyzed for dry and MQL machining. &nbsp;The MQL machining of Hastelloy C-276 shows considerable improvement in machining performance in terms of reduction in cutting force and friction coefficient compared to dry machining. Surface roughness is reduced significantly in the MQL process compared to dry cutting conditions, and ridge-free surface topography is obtained in the MQL condition. &nbsp;Also, the tool wear is significantly reduced in the MQL process, and tool life is enhanced considerably. Chip study shows that chip segmentation is much better in the MQL process than dry machining, which helps in the handling and disposal of chips.

Experimental Investigations Into Ionic Liquid-Based Nanofluids for Machining Difficult-to-Cut Materials

Paper Proceedings: https://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/IMECE/IMECE2021/volume/85543

ASME 2021 International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition (IMECE2021)

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