In recent years, issues related to eco-friendly machining have received more and more attention, leading to the development of new cooling/lubrication techniques. Herein, the paper investigates the effect of high-pressure coolant (HPC) supply on machining performance of Inconel 718 and compare with conventional flood cooling. Significant improvement in tool life, tool wear, tool-chip contact length, material removal volume, and cutting forces have been observed from the outcomes of HPC cooling condition. Moreover, in order to study the environmental impact of machining Inconel 718, a carbon emissions model was established and analyzed for high-pressure and flood cooling conditions, taking into account the carbon emissions from energy, material, cutting tool, and cooling/lubrication fluid. HPC assisted machining was revealed to be better as it makes possible a reduction in overall carbon emissions at higher cutting speeds. In addition, economic analysis for both cutting environments was also carried out. Significant improvement in reduction of the overall machining cost was observed under HPC conditions, especially at higher cutting speeds. In a nutshell, the findings revealed better performance of HPC assisted machining, with regard to machinability, environmental, and economic issues.
30 July 2021 in The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology
Ti-6Al-4V is a titanium-based alloy that is widely used in a diverse range of applications, especially in industries such as biomedical and aerospace. Several lubricooling techniques have been introduced to enhance the machinability of these materials. Among them, environmentally friendly strategies are gaining in importance, with sustainability trends rising in manufacturing. The present research investigates the effect of two eco-friendly lubricooling techniques (minimum quantity lubrication and cryogenic cooling), along with other cutting parameters (cutting speed and feed per tooth), on the surface roughness and microhardness of the machined surfaces, which are identified as one of the most frequently implemented indicators of surface integrity in the ball-end milling of the Ti-6Al-4V alloy. In addition, the total electrical energy consumption of the machine tools under different cooling/lubrication conditions was also analyzed. The results obtained showed that cryogenic cooling enhanced milling performance as compared to MQL. Moreover, a multi-objective parameter optimization model integrating the machining responses (surface roughness, microhardness, energy consumption, and productivity) and sustainability metrics (environmental impact, operator’s health and safety, and waste management) was introduced. It was found that cryogenic cooling outperformed the MQL method in terms of both machining performance and environmental impact. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) was carried out to evaluate the significance of each process parameter on the multiple performance index. The results indicate that feed per tooth, cooling method, and cutting speed were significant, with respective contributions of 39.4%, 36.8%, and 22.9%. Finally, the optimal parameter setting was verified through a confirmation test and the results reveal that an improvement was observed in the machining responses and multiple performance index.