Investigations on the Effects of Minimum Quantity Lubrication

on SurfaceRoughness and Cutting Force during Turning of

Bearing Steel
Chakraborty, S.,1Behera, B.C2., Dinesh, S.,3Ghosh, S.,4
1Department

of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bhubaneswar, India

1

srv1406@gmail.com,

2, 3, 4Department

of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, India

bikash.nitr@gmail.com, 3dineshsetti@gmail.com, 4sudarsan.ghosh@gmail.com,

Abstract: Environmental concerns call for the reduced use of cutting fluids in metal cutting
operations. Minimum quantity lubrication (MQL) machining is one of the promising solutions
to the requirement for the decrease in cutting fluid consumption. This paper reports the
results of an experimental work performed to investigate the effect of an indigenously
developed MQL set up for machining responses like cutting forces and surface finish of a
turned hardened bearing steel. It was found that machining with the MQL set up resulted in
generation of lesser cutting forces and better surface finish in comparison to dry and wet
machining.
Keywords: MQL machining; cutting force; surface finish

1 INTRODUCTION
Machining is the process of removing material in
the form of chips by means of a wedge shaped tool.
The need to manufacture high precision items and to
machine difficult-to-cut materials economically
leads to the development of improved machining
processes. The feasibility of dry cutting in the
manufacturing industries has received much
attention due to the high cost of cutting fluids,
estimated at 17% of the total manufacturing cost
which is about twice the tooling cost itself. Cutting
fluid waste needs to be treated prior to disposal and
furthermore, prolonged exposure to them is
hazardous to the machine operators due to risk of
skin cancer and breathing difficulties. Dry cutting is
desirable because not only it reduces manufacturing
costs, but also eliminates all the adverse effects
associated with the usage of cutting fluids. In spite
of the noble idea to implement the process of dry
machining as mentioned above, the usage of cutting
fluids in machining several types of materials which
are difficult to machine offers several important
advantages, especially to increase productivity and
surface quality of the machined work piece and
hence cannot be totally eliminated as of now. This is
because cutting fluid allows cutting processes to be
carried out at higher speed, higher feed rate and
greater cutting depth due to increased lubricity and
cooling at the chip-tool and chip-workpiece

interface. When used effectively, cutting fluids not

only improve surface finish and dimensional
accuracy, but also decrease the amount of power
consumptions[1]. Furthermore, cutting fluid also
helps transport the excessive heat and chips
produced during the cutting processes away from the
cutting area, thus prolonging tool life [2]. Cutting
fluid related costs and health concerns associated
with exposure to cutting fluid mist and a growing
desire to achieve environmental sustainability in
manufacturing have caused industry and academia
to re-examine the role of these fluids and quantify
their benefits. In countries like USA stricter
legislations have been enforced to minimize the use
of cutting fluids during machining[3]. Hence some
noble approaches have been developed in this
direction without compromising with the benefits
achieved from flood application of cutting fluids.
Proper selection of cutting fluids is a very important,
although complicated process as it includes various
aspects of machining conditions and parameters.
There has been a gradual shift from straight oils to
soluble oils and further to vegetable and synthetic
oils due to better cooling and lubricating properties
and more importantly due to much safer handling
and disposal as they are eco-friendly [4]. Cutting
fluids also need to be managed meticulously after
use to reduce their health and environmental effect
and also to cut down disposal costs. Gradual
reduction of cutting fluid usage by increasing the use

of near-dry and dry machining is the most promising

step taken in this regard. The past few decades have
seen many efforts being undertaken to develop
advanced machining processes using less or no
cutting fluid.
Machines and tools designed for cutting fluids
cannot be readily adapted for dry cutting[5]. New,
more powerful machines must be purchased, and
special tooling is often needed to withstand the high
temperatures generated during dry cutting. The
quality of machined parts may be affected
significantly as the properties of the machined
surface are significantly altered by dry machining in
terms of its metallurgical properties and residual
machining stresses. High cutting forces and
temperatures in dry machining may cause the
distortion of parts during machining. Moreover,
parts are often rather hot after dry machining so their
handling, inspection gauging, etc., may present a
number of problems. Near-dry machining (NDM),
also known as minimum quantity lubrication (MQL)
machining, is in the process of development to
provide at least partial solutions to the listed
problems with dry machining to wet machining. As
a result, tool life and finish of the machined surface
improved by 1520%.
2

LITERATURE REVIEW

Filipovic and Stephenson[6] found similarity in

tool life in gun-drilling and cross-hole drilling of
crankshafts between wet machining and MQL.
Using MQL and a diamond-coated tool in the
drilling of aluminiumsilicon alloys, Braga et al. [7]
showed that the performance of the MQL process (in
terms of forces, tool wear and quality of machined
holes) was very similar to that obtained when using
a large amount of water-soluble oil, with both coated
and uncoated drills. Studying turning of brasses,
Davim et al.[8] concluded that, with proper selection
of the MQL system, results similar to flood lubricant
condition can be achieved. Although many research
papers have attempted to give explanation for the
distinctive results of MQL machining no direct
conclusive evidence are provided due to the
complexity involved in the analysis. One of the most
feasible and better explanation is provided by
Astakhov in one of his work [9], which accredits the
reason to the embrittlement action of the cutting
fluid, which reduces the strain at facture of the work
material. This action is based on the rebinder effect,
directly concerned with the metal cutting process.
He suggests that atomized oil possesses greater
ability to enhance the embrittlement of the layer
being removed and thus reduce the work of plastic
deformation during the chip production.
In MQL machining, very small quantity of cutting
fluid (CF) is supplied to the machining zone in very

small (atomized) droplet size with high velocity.

The amount of oil used is generally in the range of
10-100 ml/hr, which is about 1000 times smaller
than that used in conventional flood application of
oil. It was developed as an alternative to flood and
internal high pressure coolant supply to reduce the
CF consumption. The media is supplied as a mixture
of air and oil in the form of an aerosol (often referred
to as mist) with precise control over amount of oil
and direction of spray to the cutting zone. The reason
for the shifting trend towards MQL machining is
that it is supposed to give the combined advantages
of dry and conventional flood machining in an ecofriendly manner. The amount of oil used is so less
that parts engaged in metal removal are practically
dry, although the high velocity air jet carries the
small but sufficient amount of oil precisely to the
machining zone so as to provide the necessary
cooling and lubrication, besides removal of the chips
by the compressed air. Many research papers have
been published which goes to show that MQL
application involves much better machining
parameters than dry machining which are also on a
par or in some cases better than flood application of
oil. Ueda et al.[10] found that temperature reduction
in MQL turning is approximately 5%, while in MQL
end milling it is 1015% and in MQL drilling it is
2025% compared to the temperature in dry cutting.
Khan and Dhar [11] found that MQL with vegetable
oil reduced the cutting forces by about 515% from
that in dry cutting. The axial force decreased more
predominantly than the power force. They attributed
this reduction as well as the improved tool life and
finish of the machined surface to the reduction of the
cutting zone temperature. Similar results were
obtained during machining of 1040 steel [12]. Li and
Liang [13] found that the cutting forces during
machining of 1045 steel is lower under MQL
machining condition compared to the dry cutting.
They also attributed this reduction of forces to the
lowering of the cutting temperature which in turn
enables the tool to retain its sharpness over a longer
duration. Other groups of researches have compared
MQL with wet machining. Dhar et al. studied the
effect of MQL in tuning of 4340 steel using external
nozzle and aerosol supply to the tool. They found
that the temperature at the toolchip interface
reduced by 510% (depending upon the particular
combination of the cutting speed and feed) in MQL
compared
Herein bearing steel was chosen as the work
material because of its high hardness (above 58
HRC). It is difficult to machine because of its high
fatigue and bending strength [14]. For this reason, in
present work machining operation was carried on
bearing steel material in MQL mode and the results
were compared with dry machining and wet
machining.

3 EXPERIMENTAL SETUP
Block diagram for a Simple MQL setup designed
and fabricated indigenously is shown in figure 1. It
consists of two main systems - Fluid supply system
and the air supply system.

Table 1. TiAlN coated carbide cutting tool

(CNMG12408MS) have been used for this
experiment and the process parameters are given in
Table 2.Each experiment (dry, wet and MQL) has
been conducted under the same cutting condition.
The cutting forces have been recorded using the
Kistler make dynamometer and an associated
software by the name DynoWare.
Table 1 Nominal Composition of the Bearing Steel
C
0.551.1

Fig 1. Block diagram of MQL setup

Fluid supply system consists of a burette for oil
storage, a small pump for continuously supplying oil
from the burette and an intravenous (IV) set. Oil
level in the intravenous (IV) set, maintained at a
particular height throughout so as to overcome the
back pressure from the oil inlet to the nozzle by
means of gravitational head. This ensures
continuous oil supply to the nozzle at the desired
small quantity which is also simultaneously
measured by a control valve.
Air supply system consists of a compressor of
maximum output air pressure capacity of 8 bars and
a pressure gauge fitted close to the air inlet to the
nozzle to measure the delivery pressure to the nozzle
connected by hose pipes.
4 EXPERIMENTAL CONDITIONS
Experiments were conducted under dry, wet and
MQL environment on a CNC lathe machine (Lea
dwell-Fanuc Series Oi Mate-TD).MQL nozzle
arrangement is shown in figure 2.

Fig.2 MQL nozzle arrangement

Bearing steel was chosen as the workpiece
material due to its high hardness. Nominal
composition of the bearing steel used is given in

Mn
0.1-1.15

Si
0.15-2.0

P and S
<0.03

Cr
0.5-2

Table 2 Components and parameters of machining

Component/
Description
parameter
Cutting Fluid
Water Soluble Oil (1: 80 of
oil by volume)
Nozzle
Internally mixed micronozzle with twin fluid
atomization
MQL flow rate
250 ml/hr
Air pressure
3 bar
Cutting velocity
60, 80, 100 m/min
Feed
0.14, 0.18, 0.22 mm/rev
Depth of cut
0.5 mm
Dynamometer
KISTLER DynoWare (model
no.-9129AA).
5 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The cutting forces were measured and recorded in
all three Cartesian coordinate directions for each
combination of cutting velocity and feed with a
constant depth of cut under dry, wet and MQL mode
of cooling. A total of 27 experiments have been
performed (9 each in dry, wet and MQL).The
variation of cutting force (FC ) with change of feed
(f)and cutting velocity (Vc) are shown in Figure 3 &
Figure 4respectively.

Fig.3 Variation of cutting force with feed, at

cutting speed 60m/min and depth of cut 0.5mm

CONCLUSION

Fig.4 Variation of cutting force with cutting speed,

at feed rate 0.22mm/rev and depth of cut 0.5mm.

Application of MQL during turning of bearing

steel has been experimentally studied and it has been
observed that a substantial decrease in cutting force
could be achieved with the indigenously developed
MQL setup compared to dry and wet machining.
Also the surface finish under MQL machining was
quite close to that obtained under dry machining and
it has been much better than the finish obtained
under wet machining. Hence from the results
obtained it may be concluded that the utility of
Minimum Quantity Lubrication during machining
of the bearing steel has been established and much
better results can be achieved if a study is done to
optimize the process parameters such as cutting
velocity, feed, oil composition and its consumption
rate, inlet pressure of compressed air .
REFERENCES

Fig.5 Variation of Ra with cutting velocity, at feed

rate 0.22mm/rev and depth of cut=0.5mm
From the above figures, it is observed that the
cutting force maintains an increasing trend with an
increasing feed and a decreasing trend with an
increase in cutting velocity under all types of
machining conducted, but the lowest values have
been obtained under the MQL mode because the
lubricity effect of atomized coolant significantly
reduces the coefficient of friction at the tool-chip
interface which has resulted in the reduction in the
forces. The atomized fluid also maintained the
sharpness of the cutting edge by transferring heat
from the cutting zone. An average reduction of about
13% from dry machining and about 6% from wet
machining has been achieved in the cutting force
when MQL machining has been performed. The
surface roughness of the workpiece has also been
examined for all the machined surfaces under a
Talysurf surface profilometer. The variation in
average surface roughness parameter (R ) with
a

change of feed is shown in Figure 5. Figure 5 reveals

that the surface finish shows a deteriorating trend
with an increase in feed. However the best results
have been achieved under both dry and MQL
machining, because under wet condition the chip
flow direction got deviated towards the workpiece
surface resulting in the poor surface finish. This
verifies that the MQL setup has been successful in
providing a reasonably good surface finish (almost
comparable to dry machining) of the workpiece

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