Dual nozzle vortex tube cooling system (VTCS) is developed to improve the machinability of Ti-6Al-4V where cold-compressed CO2 gas is used as a coolant. The cooling effect is produced by the process of energy separation in the vortex tube and the coolant is supplied into the machining zone to remove the generated heat in machining. In this study, the responses such as cutting force (Fz), cutting temperature (Tm), and surface roughness (Ra) are analyzed by considering coolant inlet pressure, cold fraction, and nozzle diameter as input variables. Further optimization is performed for the input variables using the genetic algorithm technique, and the results at optimum conditions are compared with those of dry cutting. From the results, lower cutting force is observed at lower coolant pressure and cold fraction and higher nozzle diameter. The cutting temperature is minimized by increasing coolant pressure and cold fraction and by decreasing nozzle diameter. A better surface finish is observed at high coolant pressure and cold fraction and lower nozzle diameters. It is observed from the response surface method (RSM) that the coolant pressure is most significantly affecting all the responses. At optimum conditions, the cutting temperature and surface roughness are 35.6% and 66.14%, respectively, lower than dry cutting due to the effective cooling and lubricating action of the CO2 gas, whereas cutting force observed under the VTCS is 18.6% higher than that of dry cutting because of the impulse force of the coolant VTCS and thermal softening of the workpiece in dry cutting.
Numerical investigation on flow behavior and energy separation in a micro-scale vortex tube