In the present scenario, citizens’ concern about environment preservation creates a necessity to mature more ecological and energy-efficient manufacturing processes and materials. The usage of glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) is one of the emerging materials to replace the traditional metallic alloys in the automotive and aircraft industries. However, it has been comprehended to arise a sustainable substitute to conventional emulsion-based coolants in machining processes for dropping the destructive effects on the ecosystem without degrading the machining performance. So, in this study, the comparison of the two sustainable cutting fluid approaches, i.e., dry and LCO₂, has been presented based on machining performance indicators like temperature, modulus of cutting force, tool wear, surface roughness, power consumption, and life cycle assessment (LCA) analysis for end milling of GFRP. The cutting condition of LCO₂ has been found to be superior in terms of machining performance by providing 80% of lower cutting zone temperature, tool wear, 5% lower modulus of cutting force, and reduced surface roughness with 9% lower power consumption that has been observed in the case of LCO₂ in comparison with dry machining. However, to compress the CO₂ for converting in liquid form, a higher amount of energy and natural resources is consumed resulting in a higher impact on the environment in comparison with dry machining. Considering the 18 impact categories of ReCiPe midpoint (H) 2016, 95% higher values of impacts have been observed in the case of LCO₂ in comparison with dry machining.

This research analyses the viability of using cryogenic cooling combined with MQL (minimum quantity lubrication) lubrication, under CryoMQL technology, as a cutting fluid in the industrial environment to justify the increase in the environmental footprint generated by its use compared to MQL in stand-alone mode. For this analysis, a set of milling tests were carried out on carbon steel AISI 1045, which is one of the most commonly used materials in the business day-to-day. In this set of tests, the evolution of cutting edge wear and energy consumption of both technologies were recorded to check their tool life through technological and environmental analysis. Thus, we sought to discern whether the energy savings derived from the machining process make up for the greater environmental footprint initially generated by the use of CryoMQL technology itself. The results obtained show how the use of CryoMQL not only increased tool life, but also allowed an increase in productivity by increasing cutting speeds by 18%; in other words, thanks to this technology, a more technologically advanced and environmentally friendly process is obtained. By increasing tool life by 30%, a reduction in energy consumption is achieved together with cost savings, which implies that ECO2 machining has economic and ecological benefits.

Many manufacturing sectors require high surface finishing. After machining operations such as milling or drilling, undesirable burrs or insufficient edge finishing may be generated. For decades, many finishing processes have been on a handmade basis; this fact is accentuated when dealing with complex geometries especially for high value-added parts. In recent years, there has been a tendency towards trying to automate these kinds of processes as far as possible, with repeatability and time/money savings being the main purposes. Based on this idea, the aim of this work was to check new tools and strategies for finishing aeronautical parts, especially critical engine parts made from Inconel 718, a very ductile nickel alloy. Automating the edge finishing of chamfered holes is a complicated but very important goal. In this paper, flexible abrasive tools were used for this purpose. A complete study of different abrasive possibilities was carried out, mainly focusing on roughness analysis and the final edge results obtained.

This project investigates the effect of cryogenic polishing on the surface quality of additively manufactured Inconel 718, focusing on its application in the aerospace industry. The research aims to optimize the finishing process through the use of abrasive brushes combined with cryogenic cooling, reducing tool wear and enhancing efficiency. A series of experiments were conducted using a radial abrasive brush with ceramic materials on Inconel 718 plates, processed on a horizontal multitasking machine. Cryogenic assistance was provided via a BeCold® refrigeration system using a jet stream to maintain temperatures ≤ 20 °C, while dry brushing, was also tested for comparison reaching approximate temperatures of 60 °C. Results show that both processes significantly reduce surface roughness, with dry brushing achieving a maximum reduction of 74% and cryogenic polishing achieving up to 77%. Additionally, cryogenic conditions demonstrated better control of thermal expansion, maintaining dimensional tolerances (± 0.02 mm), crucial for high-precision applications in the aerospace sector. These findings highlight the potential of cryogenic polishing to improve surface finish and dimensional accuracy in the manufacturing of Inconel 718 components.