Experimental investigation of soyabean oil based cutting fluid during turning of hardened AISI 4340 steel with Minimal Fluid Application

摘要

Turning of hardened steel is normally carried out with copious supply of cutting fluid to improve the cutting performance. Most of the cutting fluids in regular use are petroleum based emulsions which create several environmental problems. In this context, pure dry turning is a logical alternative as it is free from the problems associated with the cutting fluid. The achievable tool life and part finish are often affected while machining under completely dry condition. Under such situation, the concept of minimal cutting fluid application (MCFA) presents itself as a possible solution. In this study an effort was made to study the effect of soya bean oil based cutting fluid on cutting performance with minimal cutting fluid application during turning of hardened AISI4340 steel. An 18 run experiment was designed using Taguchi technique to study the effect of fluid application parameters on cutting temperature and surface roughness. Improvement in cutting performance was observed in terms of reduction in cutting temperature and improvement in surface finish (R_a) when water in oil emulsion of soya bean oil was used as the cutting fluid.