Experimental Evaluation of the Lubrication Properties of the Wheel/Workpiece Interface in MQL Grinding Using Vegetable Oils

Given the increasing attention to environmental and health problems caused by machining, the development of an environmentally friendly grinding fluid has become an urgent task. In this study, seven typical vegetable oils (i.e., soybean, peanut, maize, rapeseed, palm, castor, and sunflower oil) were used as the minimum quantity lubrication (MQL) base oil to conduct an experimental evaluation of the friction properties of the grinding wheel/workpiece interface. With nickel-based alloy GH4169 as workpiece material, the flood grinding and MQL grinding were selected. Experimental results indicated that castor oil MQL grinding had a friction coefficient and specific grinding energy of 0.30 and 73.47 J/mm3, which decreased by 50.1% and 49.4%, respectively, compared with flood grinding. Moreover, maize oil had the highest G-ratio of 29.15. Peanut, sunflower, and soybean oil with more saturated fatty acids, castor oil with more castor acids, and palm oil with numerous palmitic acids were suitable as lubricating fluids.

Experimental Research on Grinding Temperature and Energy Ratio Coefficient in MQL Grinding Using Different Types of Vegetables Oils

Vegetable oil can be used as a base oil in minimal quantity of lubrication (MQL). This study compared the performances of MQL grinding by using castor oil, soybean oil, rapeseed oil, corn oil, sunflower oil, peanut oil, and palm oil as base oils. Results revealed that 1) castor oil-based MQL grinding yields the lowest grinding force but exhibits the highest grinding temperature and energy ratio coefficient; 2) palm oil-based MQL grinding generates the second lowest grinding force but shows the lowest grinding temperature and energy ratio coefficient; 3) viscosity significantly influences grinding force and grinding temperature to a greater extent than fatty acid varieties and contents in vegetable oils. Palm oil is the optimum base oil of MQL grinding, and this base oil yields 26.98 N tangential grinding force, 87.10 N normal grinding force, 119.6 °C grinding temperature, and 42.7% energy ratio coefficient.

Effect of Water-Based Nanolubricants in Ultrasonic Vibration Assisted Grinding

Currently, because of stricter environmental standards and highly competitive markets, machining operations, as the main part of the manufacturing cycle, need to be rigorously optimized. In order to simultaneously maximize the production quality and minimize the environmental issues related to the grinding process, this research study evaluates the performance of minimum quantity lubrication (MQL) grinding using water-based nanofluids in the presence of horizontal ultrasonic vibrations (UV). In spite of the positive impacts of MQL using nanofluids and UV which are extensively reported in the literature, there is only a handful of studies on concurrent utilization of these two techniques. To this end, for this paper, five kinds of water-based nanofluids including multiwall carbon nanotube (MWCNT), graphite, Al2O3, graphene oxide (GO) nanoparticles, and hybrid Al2O3/graphite were employed as MQL coolants, and the workpiece was oscillated along the feed direction with 21.9 kHz frequency and 10 µm amplitude. Machining forces, specific energy, and surface quality were measured for determining the process efficiency. As specified by experimental results, the variation in the material removal nature made by ultrasonic vibrations resulted in a drastic reduction of the grinding normal force and surface roughness. In addition, the type of nanoparticles dispersed in water had a strong effect on the grinding tangential force. Hybrid Al2O3/graphite nanofluid through two different kinds of lubrication mechanisms—third body and slider layers—generated better lubrication than the other coolants, thereby having the lowest grinding forces and specific energy (40.13 J/mm3). It was also found that chemically exfoliating the graphene layers via oxidation and then purification prior to dispersion in water promoted their effectiveness. In conclusion, UV assisted MQL grinding increases operation efficiency by facilitating the material removal and reducing the use of coolants, frictional losses, and energy consumption in the grinding zone. Improvements up to 52%, 47%, and 61%, respectively, can be achieved in grinding normal force, specific energy, and surface roughness compared with conventional dry grinding.