Journal of Materials Processing Technology 209 (2009) 5573–5583

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Journal of Materials Processing Technology

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Effects of minimum quantity lubrication on turning AISI 9310 alloy

steel using vegetable oil-based cutting fluid
M.M.A. Khan a,∗ , M.A.H. Mithu a , N.R. Dhar b
a
Department of Industrial and Production Engineering, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet, Bangladesh
b
Department of Industrial and Production Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka, Bangladesh

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: This paper presents the effects of minimum quantity lubrication (MQL) by vegetable oil-based cutting
Received 1 April 2008 fluid on the turning performance of low alloy steel AISI 9310 as compared to completely dry and wet
Received in revised form 7 May 2009 machining in terms of chip–tool interface temperature, chip formation mode, tool wear and surface
Accepted 16 May 2009
roughness. The minimum quantity lubrication was provided with a spray of air and vegetable oil. MQL
machining was performed much superior compared to the dry and wet machining due to substantial
Keywords:
reduction in cutting zone temperature enabling favorable chip formation and chip–tool interaction. It
MQL
was also seen from the results that the substantial reduction in tool wears resulted in enhanced the tool
Turning
Low alloy steel
life and surface finish. Furthermore, MQL provides environment friendliness (maintaining neat, clean and
Temperature dry working area, avoiding inconvenience and health hazards due to heat, smoke, fumes, gases, etc. and
Chip preventing pollution of the surroundings) and improves the machinability characteristics.
Tool wear © 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Surface roughness

1. Introduction
Currently, there is a wide-scale evaluation of the use of met-
alworking fluids (MWFs) in machining. Industries are looking for
ways to reduce the amount of lubricants in metal removing oper-
ations due to the ecological, economical and most importantly
occupational pressure. From a study, Kalhofer (1997) revealed that
respiration and skin problems were the main side affects of MWF.
However, Greaves et al. (1997) studied the types of occupational
risks associated with MWFs, which became airborne and formed
aerosol during machining and showed that these risks were numer-
ous and widespread. It is, therefore, important to find a way to
manufacture products using the sustainable methods and processes
that minimize the use of MWFs in machining operations. In addi-
tion, it is essential to determine the optimal cutting conditions and
parameters, while maintaining long tool life, acceptable surface
finish and good part accuracy to achieve ecological and coolant-
less objective. Erdel (1999) demonstrated successfully a method in
the minimization of MWFs called near dry machining (NDM). NDM
uses very small amounts of MWF in a flow of compressed air that
can be approximately 10,000 times less than overhead conventional
flood cooling. Besides, the costs of acquisition, care and disposal of
∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +39 0509 13037.
E-mail address: muhshin.khan@ing.unipi.it (M.M.A. Khan).
MWFs are two times higher and have to be taken into account when
the economics involved in machining operations are compared. The
increasing cost associated with the use and disposal of MWFs can
be up to 17% per part for automotive components. The total man-
ufacturing cost has to be considered even if the costs associated
with cutting tools increase with decrease in use of MWF. However,
Brockhoff and Walter (1998) stated that the total manufacturing
cost would be lower as compared to the cost of traditional overhead
flood cooling using large amounts of water-miscible MWFs.
Besides, according to the National Institute of Occupational,
Safety and Health (NIOSH, 1983), it is estimated that 1.2 million
workers are potentially exposed to the hazardous/chronic toxi-
cology effects of MWF. Workers can be exposed to MWF in a
variety of ways. Bennett and Bennett (1987) found that a source
of significant exposure to MWF was inhalation of aerosols. NIOSH
recommended no respiratory protection for MWF concentrations
of 0.5 mg/m3 or less. However, Greaves et al. (1997) showed that
the chronic bronchitis, asthma, chest symptoms and airway irrita-
tion were linked to aerosol exposures of MWF as low as 0.41 mg/m3 .
Additionally, NIOSH (1997) reported that the effectiveness of OEM
(original equipment manufacturer) mist enclosures was not built-
in, which was a violation of the guidelines for exhaust ventilation
of machining operations listed in ANSI technical report. Effective-
ness of these enclosures was also reported to be less than 10% in
eliminating unwanted mist during wet machining. Moreover, the
goal of the new international global standard ISO14001:1996 is

0924-0136/$ – see front matter © 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2009.05.014
5574 M.M.A. Khan et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 209 (2009) 5573–5583
to support environmental protection and prevention of pollution
in balance with socio-economic needs. Organizations that con-
sider the implementation of appropriate and economically viable
technologies need only to achieve those environmental objectives
incorporated in the standard. The international standard may affect
all organizations that aim to supply or manufacture parts on a global
or domestic scale. Klocke and Eisenblätter (1997) demonstrated
the interest of dry machining and eventually met with success
in the field of environmentally friendly manufacturing. However,
these can be sometimes less effective when higher machining effi-
ciency, better surface finish quality and severer cutting conditions
are required. In these circumstances, semi-dry operations utilizing
very small amounts of cutting lubricants are expected to become
a powerful tool and, in fact, they already play a significant role in
a number of practical applications. Minimum quantity lubrication
(MQL) refers to the use of only a minute amount of cutting flu-
ids typically at a flow rate of 50–500 ml/h. Sometimes this concept
of minimum quantity lubrication is referred to as near dry lubri-
cation or micro-lubrication. According to MaClure et al. (2001),
the concept of MQL has also been suggested since a decade ago
as a means of addressing the issues of environmental intrusive-
ness and occupational hazards associated with the airborne cutting
fluid particles on factory shop floors. The minimization of cutting
fluid also leads to economical benefits by way of saving lubricant
costs and cycle time for cleaning workpiece, tool, and machine.
However, there has been little investigation of the cutting fluids
to be used in MQL machining. Stäbler et al. (2003) suggested the
types of fluids not applicable for the minimum quantity lubrica-
tion were water mixed cooling lubricants and their concentrates,
lubricants with organic chlorine or zinc containing additives, lubri-
cants that have to be marked according to the decree on hazardous
materials, and products basing on mineral base oils in the cooling
lubricant 3 ppm (parts per million) benzpyrene. From performance,
cost, health, safety and environment points of view, Krahenbuhl
(2005), therefore, considered vegetable oils as viable alternative to
petroleum-based metalworking cutting fluids. The important fac-
tors for selecting the vegetable oils as a feasible choice are:
(i) molecules, being long, heavy, and dipolar in nature, create a
dense homogeneous and strong lubricating film that gives the
vegetable oil a greater capacity to absorb pressure.
(ii) lubricating film layer provided by vegetable oils, being intrin-
sically strong and lubricious, improves workpiece quality and
overall process productivity reducing friction and heat gener-
ation.
(iii) higher flash point yields opportunities for increased rates of
metal removal because of reduced smoke formation and fire
hazard.
(iv) higher boiling point and greater molecular weight of vegetable
oil result in considerably less loss from vaporization and mist-
ing.
(v) vegetable oils are nontoxic to the environment and biologically
inert and do not produce significant organic disease and toxic
effect.
(vi) moreover, ACGIH (2001) reported no sign and symptom of
acute and chronic exposure to vegetable oil mist in human.
Significant progress has been made in dry and semi-dry machin-
ing recently and MQL machining in particular has been accepted
as a successful semi-dry application due to its environmentally
friendly characteristics. Some good results have also been obtained
using this technique. Dhar et al. (2006) employed MQL machin-
ing technique in turning AISI 4340 steel with uncoated carbide tool
(SNMM 120408). During experimentation, process parameters such
as cutting velocity, feed rate and depth of cut were kept constant
at 110 m/min, 0.16 mm/rev and 1.5 mm respectively. Water-soluble
cutting fluid was supplied at flow rate of 60 ml/h and mixed with
compressed air prior to being impinged on the cutting zone at a
high speed. Under same cutting conditions, MQL caused a signifi-
cant reduction in tool wear and surface roughness as compared to
dry and wet turning. Lugscheider et al. (1997) used MQL machin-
ing technique in the reaming process of gray cast iron (GG25) and
aluminum alloy (AISI 12) with coated carbide tools. The authors
concluded that MQL caused a reduction in tool wear as compared
to the completely dry process and, consequently, resulted in an
improvement in surface quality of the holes. Derflinger et al. (1996),
on the other hand, describes the drilling of aluminum–silicon alloys
as a process where dry cutting is impossible due to the high duc-
tility of the workpiece material. Without cooling and lubrication,
the chip sticks to the tool and breaks it in a very short time during
cutting.
Machado and Wallbank (1997) conducted experiments on turn-
ing medium carbon steel (AISI 1040) using a venturi to mix
compressed air (the air pressure was of 2.3 bar) with small quan-
tities of a liquid lubricant, water or soluble oil (the mean flow rate
was in between 3 and 5 ml/min). The mixture was directed onto
the rake face of a carbide tool against the chip flow direction. The
application of a mixture of air and soluble oil was able to reduce the
consumption of cutting fluid, but it promoted a mist in the envi-
ronment with problems of odors, bacteria and fungi growth of the
overhead flooding system. For this reason, the mixture of air and
water was preferred. However, even if the obtained results were
encouraging, the system needed yet some development to achieve
the required effects in terms of cutting forces, temperature, tool life
and surface finish.
Varadarajan et al. (2002) developed alternative test equipment
for injecting the fluid and used it with success in hard turning for
which a large supply of cutting fluid is the normal practice. The
test equipment consisted of a fuel pump generally used for diesel
fuel injection in truck engines coupled to a variable electric drive. A
high-speed electrical mixing chamber facilitated thorough emulsi-
fication. The test equipment permitted the independent variation
of the injection pressure, the frequency of injection and the rate
of injection. The investigations performed by the authors revealed
that a coolant-rich (60%) lubricant fluid with minimal additives was
the ideal formulation. During hard turning of an AISI 4340 hardened
steel of 46HRC (460 HV), the optimum levels for the fluid delivery
parameters were a flow rate of 2 ml/min, a pressure of 20 MPa and
a high pulsing rate of 600 pulses/min. In comparison, for the same
cutting conditions, with dry cutting and wet cutting, the minimum
quantity of cutting fluid method led to lower cutting forces, tem-
peratures, better surface finish, longer tool life. In addition, it was
observed that tightly coiled chips were formed during wet turn-
ing and during minimal application, while long snarled chips were
prevalent during dry turning. It must be noted that during minimal
application, the rate of fluid was only 0.05% of that used during wet
turning. The major part of the fluid used during minimal quantity
application was evaporated; the remnant was carried out by work
and chips and was too low in volume to cause contamination of the
environment.
Klocke and Eisenblätter (1997) dealt with the drilling tests using
minimum cooling lubrication systems, which were based on atom-
izing the lubricant directly to the cutting zone. Small quantities of
lubricant, in the order of 10–50 ml/h, were mixed with compressed
air for an external feeding through a nozzle and for internal feeding
through the spindle and tool. Internal feed systems with their abil-
ity to deliver the mixture very close to the drill–workpiece contact
point may achieve very good results in terms of surface finish and
tool life.
Lahres et al. (1999) presented the dry machining of synchro-
nizing cones for automotive application. The work material was
austenitic 22Mn6 steel. In the first step of their study, dry machin-
 M.M.A. Khan et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 209 (2009) 5573–5583 5575

ing was compared to machining with coolant and minimal lubricant Table 1
Experimental conditions.
system. The used minimal lubricant system worked with special oil,
which had food-grade quality. The volume flow rates of air and oil Machine tool Lathe Machine, 15 hp
were about 50 l/min and 20 ml/h respectively and hence, the pro-
duced chips were dry after leaving the contact zone of the cutting Work specimens
Material AISI 9310 steel
process. At this oil volume flow, a single chip can carry a maximum
(C-0.12%, Mn-0.55%,
of 1 ml. Therefore, the chips could be declared as being almost dry P-0.025%, Si-0.25%,
and passed for metallic recycling without further treatment. The Ni-3.4%, S-0.025%,
results exhibited an advantage for the minimal lubricant technique Cr-1.3%, Mo-0.14%)
and for the dry machining. Wakabayashi et al. (1998), by model Hardness (BHN) 257
Size ϕ 100 × 710 mm
experiments, suggested that ester supplied onto a rake face of a tool Cutting insert Uncoated carbide, TTS, SNMG
decomposed to carboxylic acid and alcohol and its carboxylic acid 120408 (P-30 grade)
formed a chemisorbed film with lubricity. Itoigawa et al. (2005), Composition: WC, TaC, TJC, Co
however, found that in actual conditions with high machining load, Grain size: 1.4 ␮m
Tool holder PSBNR 2525M12
existence of this kind of boundary film was uncertain.
The review of the literature suggests that the concept of MQL Working tool geometry Inclination angle −6◦
presents itself as a possible solution for machining in achieving Orthogonal rake −6◦
angle
slow tool wears while maintaining the cutting forces/power at rea-
Orthogonal 6◦
sonable levels, if the MQL parameters can be strategically tuned. clearance angle
The main objective of the present work was to experimentally Auxiliary cutting 15◦
investigate the roles of minimum quantity lubrication by vegetable edge angle
Principal cutting 75◦
oil-based cutting fluid on chip–tool interface temperature, chip
edge angle
color and shape, chip reduction coefficient, tool wear and sur- Nose radius 0.8 mm
face roughness in turning alloy steel (AISI 9310) by the industrially
used uncoated carbide tool (SNMG 120408 TTS) at different cut- Process parameters
ting velocities and feeds combinations as compared to wet and dry Cutting velocity, Vc 223, 246, 348 and 483 m/min
machining. Feed rate, S0 0.10, 0.13, 0.16 and 0.18 mm/rev
Depth of cut, t 1.0 mm

Cutting fluid MQL condition—food-grade

2. Experimental conditions and procedure
2.1. Experimental procedure and selection of turning conditions
Experiments were carried out by plain turning a 100 mm diam-
eter and 710 mm long rod of AISI 9310 alloy steel of common use in
a powerful and rigid lathe (France, 15hp) at different cutting veloc-
ities and feeds under dry, wet and MQL by vegetable oil conditions.
These experimental investigations were conducted with a view to
explore the role of MQL on the machinability characteristics of that
work material mainly in terms of cutting temperature, chip forma-
tion, tool wear and surface roughness. The experimental conditions
are listed in Table 1. The ranges of the cutting velocity (Vc ) and feed
rate (S0 ) were selected based on the tool manufacturer’s recom-
mendation and industrial practices. Depth of cut was kept fixed
to only 1.0 mm, which would adequately serve the present pur-
pose. Machining ferrous metals by carbides is a major activity in
the machining industries. Machining of steels involves more heat
generation for their ductility and production of continuous chips
having more intimate and wide chip–tool contact. Again, the cut-
ting temperature increases further with the increase in strength
and hardness of the steels for more specific energy requirement.
Keeping these facts in view, the commonly used alloy steel like AISI
9310 was considered in this experimental research.
2.2. Working principle of MQL system
The MQL needs to be supplied at high pressure and impinged
at high speed through the nozzle on the cutting zone. Considering
the conditions required for the present research work and uninter-
rupted supply of MQL at a constant pressure of around 6 bar over
a reasonably long cut, a MQL delivery system was designed, fab-
ricated and used. The schematic view of the MQL set-up is shown
in Fig. 1. In this system, a compressor was used to supply air at a
high-pressure of 10 bar. This high-pressure air from the compressor
entered into two chambers like fluid chamber and mixing chamber
at two different but pre-selected pressures of 10 and 6 bar respec-
vegetable oil; viscosity: 84 cP
at 20 ◦ C; moisture content:
5.5% and flash point: 340 ◦ C
(open cup)
Wet
condition—coolant
used: Brand-Fuchs,
Model-Ecocut San 220
Cutting fluid supply For MQL cooling—air:
6 bar; flow rate:
100 ml/h (through
external nozzle).
For wet cooling—flow rate: 6 l/min, 0.5 bar
Environment Dry, wet and MQL
tively. The fluid chamber was connected at the bottom with the
mixing chamber by very small diameter flexible tube. This tube
was passed through a roller-type flow controller to permit a little
amount of fluid to flow under high pressure. The compressed air
entering into the inlet port created pressure to cause the fluid to
flow continuously to the mixing chamber through controller at a
constant rate. The air and the vegetable oil were mixed in the mix-
ing chamber so that the mixture of vegetable oil and air impinged
at a high velocity through the nozzle on the chip–tool interface.
During experimentation, the thin but high velocity stream of MQL
was projected at the tip of the cutting tool along the auxiliary cut-
ting edge making an angle 15◦ with it. Consequently, the coolant
reached as close to the chip–tool and the work-tool interfaces as
possible. The MQL jet was used mainly to target the rake and flank
surface and to protect the auxiliary flank to enable better dimen-
sional accuracy. The photographic view of the experimental set-up
is shown in Fig. 2.
2.3. Selection of machinability characteristics
The effectiveness, efficiency and overall economy of machin-
ing of any work material by given tools depend largely on the
machinability characteristics of the tool-work materials under the
5576 M.M.A. Khan et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 209 (2009) 5573–5583

Fig. 1. Schematic view of MQL unit.

recommended condition. Machinability is usually judged by (i) cut-
ting temperature, which affects product quality, and cutting tool
performance (ii) pattern and mode of chip formation (iii) mag-
nitude of the cutting forces, which affects power requirement,
dimensional accuracy and vibration (iv) surface finish and (v) tool
wear and tool life. In the present work, cutting temperature, chip
pattern, chip formation mode, tool wear and surface roughness
were considered for studying the role of minimum quantity lubri-
cation.
2.4. Measurement of chip–tool interface temperature
MQL by vegetable oil is expected to provide some favor-
able effects mainly through reduction in cutting temperature. As
shown in Fig. 3, the simple but reliable tool-work thermocou-
ple technique developed by Dhar and Islam (2005) was used to
measure the average cutting temperature during turning at dif-
ferent Vc and S0 combinations by the uncoated carbide insert
under dry, wet and MQL by vegetable oil conditions. For the
present investigation, the calibration of the work-tool thermo-
couple was carried out by external flame heating. The work-tool
thermocouple junction was constructed using a long continu-
ous chip of the concerned work material and a tungsten carbide
insert was used in actual cutting. To avoid generation of para-
sitic emf (electromotive force), a long carbide rod was used to
extend the insert. A standard K-type thermocouple was mounted
at the site of tool-work junction. The oxy-acetylene torch sim-
ulated the heat generation phenomena in machining and raised
the temperature at the chip–tool interface. Standard thermocouple
directly monitored the junction temperature when a digital mul-
timeter monitored the emf generated by the hot junction of the
chip–tool.

Fig. 2. Photographic view of the experimental set-up.

 M.M.A. Khan et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 209 (2009) 5573–5583 5577

Fig. 3. Schematic view of the tool-work thermocouple loop.

2.5. Study of chip pattern and formation mode 1 ␮m. However, tool rejection criteria for the finishing operation
were employed in this investigation. Ezugwu et al. (2005) estab-
The form, color and thickness of the chips also directly and indi- lished the values in accordance with ISO Standard 3685 for tool
rectly indicate the nature of chip–tool interaction influenced by life testing. A cutting tool was rejected and further machining was
the machining environment. The chip samples were collected dur- stopped based on one or a combination of rejection criteria given
ing short run and long run machining for Vc and S0 combinations below:
under dry, wet and MQL conditions. The form and color of all those i. Average flank wear ≥ 0.3 mm
chips were watchfully examined and noted down. The thickness ii. Maximum flank wear ≥ 0.4 mm
iii. Nose wear ≥ 0.3 mm
of the chips were repeatedly measured by a digital slide caliper to
iv. Notching at the depth of cut line ≥ 0.6 mm
determine the value of chip reduction coefficient,  (ratio of chip v. Average surface roughness value ≥ 1.6 ␮m
thickness after and before cut), which is an important index of vi. Excessive chipping (flanking) or
machinability. catastrophic fracture of cutting
edge

2.6. Measurement of tool wear and surface roughness
The cutting insert was withdrawn at regular intervals to study
the pattern and extent of wear on main and auxiliary flanks for all
the trials. The average width of the principal flank wear, VB and aux-
iliary flank wear, VS were measured using metallurgical microscope
(Carl Zesis, 351396, Germany) fitted with micrometer of least count
At the end of full cut, the cutting inserts were inspected under
scanning electron microscope (Hitachi, S-2600N SEM, Japan) and
the photographs were taken for onward comparative study. In this
experiment, attempts were made to reduce the rate of growth of
flank wear in all possible ways without much sacrifice in MRR
(material removal rate). The surface roughness of the machined
surface after each cut was measured by a Talysurf (Surtronic

Fig. 4. Variation in  vg with that of Vc and S0 in turning steel by SNMG insert under dry, wet and MQL cooling conditions at 0.10 and 0.13 mm/rev.
5578 M.M.A. Khan et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 209 (2009) 5573–5583

Fig. 5. Variation in  avg with that of Vc and S0 in turning steel by SNMG insert under dry, wet and MQL cooling conditions at 0.16 and 0.18 mm/rev.

3 + Roughness Checker, Taylor Hobson, UK) using a sampling length
of 0.8 mm.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Effects of MQL on cutting temperature
The machining temperature at the cutting zone is an important
index of machinability and needs to be controlled as far as possible.
Cutting temperature increases with the increase in specific energy
consumption and MRR. During machining any ductile materials,
heat is generated at the primary deformation zone due to shear and
plastic deformation, whereas secondary deformation and sliding
cause heat generation at chip–tool interface. Furthermore, rub-
bing produces heat at work–tool interfaces. All such heat sources
produce maximum temperature at the chip–tool interface, which
substantially influence the chip formation mode, cutting forces and
tool life. That is why; attempts are made to reduce this detrimental
cutting temperature. Conventional cutting fluid application may,
to some extent, cool the tool and the job in bulk but cannot cool
and lubricate expectedly and effectively at the chip–tool interface
where the temperature is maximum. This is mainly because the
flowing chips make mainly bulk contact with the tool rake sur-
face and an elastic contact just before leaving the contact of the
tool. Bulk contact does not allow the cutting fluid to penetrate into
the interface. Elastic contact allows slight penetration of the cut-
ting fluid only over a small region by capillary action. The cutting
fluid action becomes more and more ineffective at the interface
with the increase in Vc when the chip–tool contact becomes almost
fully plastic or bulk. Therefore, the application of MQL at chip–tool
interface is expected to improve on aforementioned machinability
characteristics that play vital role on productivity, product qual-
ity and overall economy in addition to environment friendliness in
machining particularly when the cutting temperature is very high.
The average chip–tool interface temperature,  avg was measured
using the tool-work thermocouple technique and plotted against
cutting velocity for different feeds and environments undertaken.
Figs. 4 and 5 show the effect of minimum quantity lubrication
on average chip–tool interface temperature under different cut-
ting velocity and feed rate as compared to dry and wet conditions.
However, it is clear from the aforementioned figures that with
the increase in Vc and S0 , average chip–tool interface temperature
increased as usual, even under MQL condition, due to increase in
energy input. The roles of variation of process parameters on per-
centage reduction of average interface temperature due to MQL
have not been uniform. This may be attributed to variation in the
chip forms particularly chip–tool contact length (CN ) which for a
given tool widely vary with the mechanical properties and behav-

Fig. 6. Variation in chip reduction coefficient with that of Vc and S0 in turning steel by SNMG insert under dry, wet and MQL cooling conditions at 0.10 and 0.13 mm/rev.
 M.M.A. Khan et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 209 (2009) 5573–5583 5579

Table 2
Comparison of chip shape and color at different Vc and S0 under dry, wet and MQL by vegetable oil conditions.

Feed rate, S0 (mm/rev) Cutting velocity Vc (m/min) Environment

Dry Wet MQL by vegetable oil

Shape Color Shape Color Shape Color

0.10 223 Ribbon Burnt blue Ribbon Burnt blue Tubular Blue
246 Ribbon Burnt blue Ribbon Burnt blue Tubular Golden
348 Ribbon Burnt blue Ribbon Burnt blue Ribbon Blue
483 Ribbon Burnt blue Ribbon Burnt blue Ribbon Blue

0.13 223 Ribbon Burnt blue Tubular Golden Ribbon Blue

246 Ribbon Burnt blue Ribbon Burnt blue Ribbon Blue
348 Ribbon Burnt blue Ribbon Burnt blue Tubular Golden
483 Tubular Burnt blue Ribbon Burnt blue Ribbon Blue

0.16 223 Tubular Burnt blue Helical Golden Ribbon Golden

246 Ribbon Burnt blue Ribbon Golden Ribbon Golden
348 Tubular Burnt blue Tubular Golden Tubular Golden
483 Ribbon Burnt blue Ribbon Burnt blue Ribbon Blue

0.18 223 Tubular Burnt blue Helical Golden Tubular Golden

246 Tubular Burnt blue Helical Golden Tubular Golden
348 Tubular Burnt blue Ribbon Golden Tubular Golden
483 Ribbon Golden Ribbon Golden Tubular Blue

Chip shape
Group Half turn Tubular/helical Spiral Ribbon

ior of the work material under the cutting conditions. This chip–tool
contact length affects not only the cutting forces but also the cut-
ting temperature. Post cooling of the chips by MQL jet is also likely
to influence  avg to some extent depending on form of the chips and
thermal conductivity of the work materials.
Apparently, more reduction in average chip–tool interface tem-
perature,  avg is expected by employing MQL but, in practice,
reduction in temperature is found to be less because the MQL could
not reach the intimate chip–tool contact zone. However, during
machining at lower Vc when the chip–tool contact is partially elas-
tic, where the chip leaves the tool, MQL is dragged in that elastic
contact zone in small quantity by capillary effect and is likely to
enable more effective cooling. With the increase in Vc the chip
makes fully plastic or bulk contact with the tool rake surface and
prevents any fluid from entering into the hot chip–tool interface.
As shown in Figs. 4 and 5, effect of MQL cooling has improved to
some extent with the decrease in feed and in particular at lower
cutting velocity. Possibly, the thinner chips, especially at lower chip
velocity, are slightly pushed up by the high-pressure MQL jet com-
ing from opposite direction and enable it come closer to the hot
chip–tool contact zone to remove heat more effectively. Further,
at high cutting velocity, the coolant may not get enough time to
remove the heat accumulated at the cutting zone resulting in less
reduction in temperature under MQL condition.
Besides, during minimal application, the cutting fluid is applied
at the tool–work interface and there is a possibility of some tiny
fluid particles penetrating the work surface near the cutting edge
that forms the top of the chip in the next revolution. These particles,
owing to their high velocity and smaller physical size can penetrate
and firmly adhere to the work surface resulting in the promotion
of plastic flow on the backside of the chip due to rebinder effect.
This relieves a part of the compressive stress and promotes chip
curl that reduces tool-chip contact length. This phenomenon, in
turns, helps in reducing the chip–tool interface temperature fur-
ther. The effectiveness of the MQL by vegetable oil was found to
decrease with the increase in feed also for more intimate chip–tool
contact. Nevertheless, still MQL was found to be more effective as
compared to dry and flood cooling conditions. With the increase
in feed rate, the chip–tool contact length generally increases but
the close curvature of the grooves parallel and close to the cutting
edges of the insert has reduced the chip–tool contact length. Thus,
it possibly helped in reducing the chip–tool interface temperature
further. However, it was observed that the MQL jet in its present
way of application enabled reduction of the average cutting temper-
ature by about 5–10% as compared to wet machining depending on
the levels of the process parameters including Vc and S0 . Even such
apparently small reduction in the cutting temperature is expected
to have some favorable influence on other machinability indices.
3.2. Effects of MQL on chip formation
The form (shape and color) and thickness of the chips directly
and indirectly indicate the nature of chip–tool interaction influ-
enced by the machining environment. The pattern of chips in
machining ductile metals were found to depend on the mechani-
cal properties of the work material, tool geometry particularly rakes
angle, levels of Vc and S0 , nature of chip–tool interaction and cutting
environment. In absence of chip breaker, length and uniformity of
chips increase with the increase in ductility and softness of the work
material, tool rake angle and cutting velocity unless the chip–tool
interaction is adverse causing intensive friction and built-up edge
formation.
Table 2 shows that the low alloy steel when machined by the pat-
tern type SNMG insert under both dry and we conditions produced
ribbon type continuous chips at lower feed rates and more or less
tubular type continuous chips at higher feed rates. When machined
with MQL the form of these ductile chips did not change appreciably
but their back surface appeared much brighter and smoother. This
indicates that the amount of reduction of temperature and pres-
ence of MQL application enabled favorable chip–tool interaction
and elimination of even trace of built-up edge formation.
The color of the chips became much lighter i.e. blue or golden
from burnt blue depending on Vc and S0 due to reduction in cut-
ting temperature by minimum quantity lubrication. Chip reduction
coefficient is also an important machinability index. For given cut-
ting conditions, the value of  depends on the nature of chip–tool
5580 M.M.A. Khan et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 209 (2009) 5573–5583

Fig. 7. Variation in chip reduction coefficient with that of Vc and S0 in turning steel by SNMG insert under dry, wet and MQL cooling conditions at 0.16 and 0.18 mm/rev.

interaction, chip contact length and chip form all of which are
expected to be influenced by MQL in addition to the levels of Vc and
S0 . The variation in value of  with Vc and S0 as well as machining
environment are shown in Figs. 6 and 7. Almost all the parame-
ters involved in machining have direct and indirect influence on the
thickness of the chips during deformation. The degree of chip thick-
ening is assessed by chip reduction coefficient that plays significant
role on cutting forces and hence on cutting energy requirements
and cutting temperature.
The aforementioned figures clearly show that throughout the
present experimental domain the value of  gradually decreased
with the increase of Vc though in different degree under dry, wet and
MQL by vegetable oil conditions. The value of  usually decreases
with the increase in Vc particularly at its lower range due to plasti-
cization and shrinkage of the shear zone for reduction in friction and
built-up edge formation at the chip–tool interface due to increase
in temperature and sliding velocity. In machining steel by carbide
tool, usually, the possibility of built-up edge formation, and size and
strength of the built-up edge if formed, gradually increases with
the increase in temperature due to increase in Vc and S0 . Then it
decreases with the further increase in Vc due to too much softening
of the chip material and its removal by high sliding speed. The afore-
mentioned figures also show that MQL by vegetable oil has reduced
the value of  particularly at lower values of Vc and S0 . By MQL
applications,  is reasonably expected to decrease due to reduction
in friction at the chip–tool interface and reduction in deterioration
of effective rake angle by built-up edge formation and wear at the
cutting edges mainly due to reduction in cutting temperature.
3.3. Effects of MQL on tool wear
The cutting tools in conventional machining, particularly in con-
tinuous chip formation processes like turning, generally fail by
gradual wear by abrasion, adhesion, diffusion, chemical erosion,
galvanic action, etc. depending on the tool-work materials and
machining conditions. Tool wear initially starts with a relatively
faster rate due to what is called break-in wear caused by attrition
and micro chipping at the sharp cutting edges.

Fig. 8. Geometry and major features of wear of turning tools.

 M.M.A. Khan et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 209 (2009) 5573–5583 5581

Fig. 9. Growth of average flank wear with time under dry, wet and MQL by vegetable Fig. 10. Growth of average auxiliary flank wear with time under dry, wet and MQL
oil conditions at cutting velocity 334 m/min. by vegetable oil conditions at cutting velocity 334 m/min.

Cutting tools may often fail prematurely, randomly and catas- and auxiliary flank wear of the worn out insert after about 43 min of
trophically by mechanical breakage and plastic deformation under turning of AISI 9310 alloy steel under dry, wet and MQL conditions
adverse machining conditions caused by intensive pressure and are shown in Figs. 11 and 12 respectively.
temperature and/or dynamic loading at the tool-tips particularly if Under all the environments, abrasive scratch marks appeared
the tool material lacks strength, hot-hardness and fracture tough- in the flanks. There were some indications of adhesive wear in
ness. However, in the present investigation with the tool, work the insert. Severe groove wear at the flank surfaces were found in
material and the machining conditions undertaken, the tool fail- insert under dry and wet conditions. Some plastic deformation and
ure modes were mostly gradual wear. The geometrical pattern of micro chipping were found to occur under dry machining. Effective
tool wear that is generally observed in turning by carbide insert is temperature control with MQL by vegetable oil almost reduced the
schematically shown in Fig. 8. Among the aforementioned wears, growth of groove wear on the main cutting edge as well as auxil-
the principal flank wear is the most important because it raises the iary cutting edges. Further, the figure clearly shows reduced average
cutting forces and their related problems. The life of carbide tool principal flank wear and average auxiliary flank wear under MQL
mostly fail by wearing, which is assessed by the actual machining by vegetable oil condition.
time after the average value of its principal flank wear reaches a lim-
iting value of 0.3 mm. Therefore, attempts were made to reduce the 3.4. Effects of MQL on surface roughness
rate of growth of flank wear in all possible ways without sacrifice
in MRR. Surface finish is an another important index of machinability
Fig. 9 shows the growths of average principal flank wear on the as the performance and service life of the machined component
main cutting edge under dry, wet and MQL by vegetable oil con- are often affected by its surface finish, nature and extent of residual
ditions. The gradual growth of average principal flank wear, the
predominant parameter to ascertain expiry of tool life, observed
under all the environments indicates steady machining without
any premature tool failure by chipping, fracturing etc. establishing
proper choice of domain of process parameters. It can also be clearly
seen from Fig. 9 that the average principal flank wear particularly
its rate of growth decreased with MQL by vegetable oil. The cause
behind reduction in VB observed might reasonably be attributed to
reduction in the flank temperature by MQL, which helped in reduc-
ing abrasion wear by retaining tool hardness as well as adhesion
and diffusion types of wear, which are highly sensitive to tempera-
ture. Because of such reduction in rate of growth of flank wear, the
tool life would be much higher if MQL is properly applied.
Another important tool wear criteria are average auxiliary flank
wear, which governs the surface finish on the job as well as dimen-
sional accuracy. Irregular and higher auxiliary flank wear leads
to poor surface finish and dimensional inaccuracy. The growth of
average auxiliary flank wear is depicted in Fig. 10 for all the tri-
als undertaken. The nature of growth of average auxiliary flank
wear match with that of VB expectedly. It appears from Fig. 10 that
auxiliary flank wear also decreased during MQL turning, which is
expected to provide better surface finish and dimensional accuracy.
The pattern and extent of wear that developed at the different
surfaces of the tool-tips after being used for turning the AISI 9310
alloy steel over reasonably long period was observed under SEM
to see the actual effects of different environments on wear of the Fig. 11. SEM views of principal flank wear of the worn out insert after machining
carbide insert of SNMG configuration. The SEM views of principal 43 min under dry, wet and MQL conditions.
5582 M.M.A. Khan et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 209 (2009) 5573–5583
Fig. 12. SEM views of auxiliary flank wear of the worn out insert after machining
43 min under dry, wet and MQL conditions.
stresses and presence of surface or subsurface micro-cracks, partic-
ularly when that component is to be used under dynamic loading
or in conjugation with some other mating part(s). Generally, good
surface finish is achieved by finishing processes like grinding but
sometimes it is left to machining. Even if it is to be finally finished
by grinding, machining prior to that needs to be done with sur-
face roughness as low as possible to facilitate and economize the
grinding operation and reduce initial surface defects as far as possi-
ble. The major causes behind development of surface roughness in
continuous machining processes like turning ductile metals in par-
ticular are (i) regular feed marks left by the tool-tip on the finished
surface, (ii) irregular deformation of the auxiliary cutting edge at
the tool-tip due to chipping, fracturing and wear, (iii) vibration in
the machining system, and (iv) built-up edge formation, if any.
The variation in surface roughness observed during turning AISI
9310 low alloy steel by SNMG insert at a particular set of cutting
velocity, feed rate and depth of cut under dry, wet and MQL con-
Fig. 13. Variation in surface roughness with progress of turning steel by SNMG
insert under different cooling conditions at cutting velocity 334 m/min and feed
rate 0.18 mm/rev.
ditions is shown in Fig. 13. As MQL reduced average auxiliary flank
wear and produced no notch wear on auxiliary cutting edge, surface
roughness grew very slowly under MQL conditions. Convention-
ally applied cutting fluid did not reduce tool wear compared to dry
machining. However, the surface roughness deteriorated drastically
under wet machining compared to dry, which might possible be
attributed to electrochemical interaction between insert and work
piece. It is observed from Fig. 13 that surface roughness grows quite
fast under dry machining due to temperature, which is more inten-
sive and stresses at the tool-tips. MQL appeared to be effective in
reducing surface roughness. Nevertheless, it is evident that MQL
improves surface finish depending on the work-tool materials and
mainly through controlling the deterioration of the auxiliary cutting
edge by abrasion, chipping and built-up edge formation.
4. Conclusions
Based on the results of the present experimental investigation,
the following conclusions can be drawn:
i. MQL provided significant improvements expectedly, though in
varying degree, in respect of chip formation modes, tool wear
and surface finish throughout the range of Vc and S0 undertaken
mainly due to reduction in the average chip–tool interface tem-
perature. Wet cooling by soluble oil could not control the cutting
temperature appreciably and its effectiveness decreased further
with the increase in cutting velocity and feed rate.
ii. The present MQL systems enabled reduction in average chip–tool
interface temperature up to 10% as compared to wet machining
depending upon the cutting conditions and even such appar-
ently small reduction, unlike common belief, enabled significant
improvement in the major machinability indices.
iii. The chips produced under both dry and wet condition are of
ribbon type continuous chips at lower feed rates and more
or less tubular type continuous chips at higher feed rates.
When machined with MQL the form of these ductile chips did
not change appreciably but their back surface appeared much
brighter and smoother. This indicates that the amount of reduc-
tion of temperature and presence of MQL application enabled
favorable chip–tool interaction and elimination of even trace of
built-up edge formation.
iv. The significant contribution of MQL jet in machining the low alloy
steel by the carbide insert undertaken has been the reduction in
flank wear, which would enable either remarkable improvement
in tool life or enhancement of productivity (MRR) allowing higher
cutting velocity and feed. Such reduction in tool wear might have
been possible for retardation of abrasion, decrease or preven-
tion of adhesion and diffusion type thermal sensitivity wear at
the flanks and reduction of built-up edge formation that acceler-
ates wear at the cutting edges by chipping and flaking. Minimum
quantity lubrication reduces deep grooving, which is very detri-
mental and may cause premature and catastrophic failure of the
cutting tools.
v. Surface finishes also improved mainly due to reduction of wear
and damage at the tool-tip by the application of MQL.
Acknowledgements
This research work has been funded by Directorate of Advi-
sory Extension and Research Services (DAERS), Committee for
Advanced Studies & Research (CASR), BUET, Dhaka, Bangladesh,
sanction DEARS/CASR/R-01/2005/D-1052(39) dated 03/05/2005.
The authors are also grateful to the Department of Industrial and
Production Engineering, BUET for providing the facilities to carryout
the experiment. The help extended by the Department of Materi-
 M.M.A. Khan et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 209 (2009) 5573–5583
als and Metallurgical Engineering, BUET for obtaining the scanning
electron micrograph is also sincerely acknowledged.
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