Muhammad Saad Fasih, 63092

Review of Cryogenic Machining Process

Through researches and previous

scientific experiments, it is proved
that majority of energy that is
produced during machining is
converted into heat. This excessive
heat is the root cause of various
issues generated during machining
like reduced tool life, improper
surface
finish,
excessive
consumption of power etc. This
implies that use of proper lubricant
and coolant is of prime importance
in any machine shop. These cutting
fluids reduce friction and take
excessive heat out of the system.
There are different machining
environments
depending
upon
cutting fluids and conditions of
machining. These are:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Dry Machining
Flood cooling
High Pressure Cooling
Chilled Air Cooling
Minimum Quantity Lubricant

These machining environments are

briefly explained below:
1. Dry Machining: In this type
of machining environment no
coolant
is
utilized.
Advantages of this type of
machining
are
reduced
pollution,
reduced
health
hazards and less cost.
2. Flood Cooling: In this type,
soluble oil is used as a

cutting fluid in machining

zone. The advantages are
good surface finish, less
vibrations, enhanced tool life
and greater accuracy.
3. High Pressure Cooling: In
this process, high pressure
stream of soluble oil is
applied in the cutting zone.
4. Chilled Air Cooling: In this
type of machining, cold air is
directed to the point of
contact between tool and
work piece by an air gun.
Increased tool life and better
surface finish results.
5. Minimum
Quantity
Lubricant (MQL): in this
process, a mixture of oil
droplets and compressed air
is directed at chip tool
interface.
Its
advantages
include less wear and tear of
tool and improved surface
finish.
Cryogenics
Fluids:

and

Cryogenic

Cryogenics is the science of very

low temperatures (-1460C and
below). Cryogenics is adapted from
two Greek words, Cryos and Genes.
Former means ice cold and latter
stands for ice. The most common
Cryogenic liquids used are Liquid
Argon, Liquid Nitrogen, Liquid
Oxygen, Liquid Carbon di Oxide

Muhammad Saad Fasih, 63092

etcetera but the ones used for
Cryogenic machining are Liquid
Nitrogen and Carbon di Oxide.

Cryogenic Machining:
Cryogenic Machining is a material
removal
process
in
which
Not a significant amount of work
has been done on this topic in the
past, but is significant enough to
extract the narrative.
M. Dhananchezian and M. Pradeep
Kumar in 2011, during turning of Ti6Al-4V alloy, investigated the effect
of Liquid Nitrogen applied to the
rake surface and main and
auxiliary flank surfaces via holes
made in the cutting tool insert. The
results of cryogenic machining
were then compared to that of
conventional
machining
with
parameters
like
tool
wear,
roughness of surface, cutting
temperature and forces. Results
indicated
that
in
Cryogenic
machining reduction of cutting
temperature was 61-66% and
surface roughness was reduced to
36% max over wet machining.
Also, there was a decrease in
cutting
forces
(35-42%)
and
decrease in flank wear by 27-39%
in cryogenic machining. Moreover,
there was a reduction in tool wear
by application of Liquid Nitrogen on
point of contact between tool and
work
piece.
So,
there
was

Cryogenic Liquids are used as

coolants instead of traditional
cutting
fluids.
A
stream
of
cryogenic liquid is sprayed on point
of contact between tool and work
piece, which cools down both tool
and work piece before evaporating
in to air.
indication of increased productivity
in the machining of Titanium alloys
during
cryogenic
cooling
as
compared
to
traditional
wet
cooling.
Yakup Yildiz and Muammer Nalbant
in 2008 devised Liquid Nitrogen as
one of the most favorable cutting
fluid in machining operations due
to its capability to improve tool life
through less wear and tear and
hence imparting better surface
finish by controlled temperature in
cutting zone. They reviewed Liquid
Nitrogen
use
in
machining
operations and its effects on
cutting tool and work piece
(material
properties,
surface
roughness, cutting forces and
temperature).
Ampara Aramcharoen and Shaw
Kah Chuan in 2014 investigated
the effects of Cryogenic Milling of
Inconel 718 and its Sustainability
Assessment.
Conventional
machining of Inconel 718 is very
challenging due to its thermal,
mechanical
and
chemical
characteristics and the use of

Muhammad Saad Fasih, 63092

conventional oil based cutting
fluids
results
in
ineffective
machining. Ampara Aramcharoen
and Shaw Kah Chuan studied
machining temperature, cutting
forces, tool wear, quality of finished
product and power consumption
etcetera. The results established
that the cryogenic cooling shows
potential for machinability and
sustainability
improvement
as
compared to conventional (oil
based) cutting fluids and dry
cutting in terms of tool life,
reduced friction at secondary
deformation zone, lower power
consumption and good quality
machined product.
Muammer Nalbant and Yakup Yildiz
in 2011 studied the effects of
cryogenic cooling in milling process
of AISI 304 (stainless steel). After
experimentation, cryogenic cooling
and cutting speeds were related
with respect to cutting forces. They
sprayed Liquid Nitrogen to tool chip
interface with variable cutting
speeds ad cutting directions.
Compared
to
dry
machining,
cutting forces and cutting torque
was found higher in cryogenic
machining.
Sunil Magadum, Arun Kumar S,
Yoganath V.G, and C.K.Srinivasa
machined SS305 steel on lathe
machine with coated carbide tools
and cryogenic coolants. Cutting
speed and feed rate were varied
while depth of cut was kept

constant. Tool wear, cutting forces

and tool life were the measured
parameters.
Results
indicated
enhanced tool life in cryogenic
cooling.
V. Garca Navasa, D. Fernndeza ,
A. Sanda , C. Sanza , S. Suzonb ,
T. Fernndez de Mendiolac in 2014
studied surface integrity of AII
4150 steel machined with different
cutting fluids and found that
cryogenic machining was the most
favorable
machining
due
to
reduction in heating, less wear and
tear of tool and better surface
integrity.
A.A. Khan, M.Y. Ali and M.M. Haque
in 2010 studied turning of AISI 304
stainless steel in the presence of
cryogenic coolant such that Liquid
Nitrogen
stream
was
applied
directly to machined zone without
any other interference. Tool life was
observed to be quadrupled as
compared to dry machining. The
Cryogenic coolant was applied
along the principal cutting edge
which did not improve surface
finish.
Umbrello, Pu, Caruso, J. C. Outeiro
in 2011 performed experiments
under both cryogenic and dry
machining conditions using Cubic
boron nitride tool and AISI 521000
steel and proved that cryogenic
machining
improves
surface
integrity and other aspects of hard
machined materials.

Muhammad Saad Fasih, 63092

Ahsan Ali Khan and Mirghani I.
Ahmed
in
2008
worked
on
improving
tool
life
cryogenic
cooling. They suggested that the
major requirements of a machining
process (better surface finish, low
tool wear and high material
removal rate) can be attained
using cryogenic coolants. A tool
was modified to apply liquid
Nitrogen directly on the machined
zone. Tool life was found to be
increased more than four times.
Cryogenic machining was more
effective at higher cutting speeds
and higher feed rate but less for
high cut depth.
Material development for the
cutting tool is also one of the most
critical elements in metal cutting,
cutting tools are always been
identified by wear resistance to
machine
harder,
tougher,
or
chemically reactive materials. In
machining processes, a big quality
related output is the integrity of
machined
part
surface.
In
machining of difficult to cut
material, a sudden decrease in
tool-life makes the machining
process even more
Conclusion:
Cryogenic cooling is a groundbreaking and sustainable method
and this method of machining has
potential for replacing conventional
(oil-based)
cutting
fluids
and
coolants under a variety of

circumstances.
Cryogenic
machining has already proved to
have a great potential in various
machining applications, performing
equally
if
not
better
than
conventional cooling strategies in
all
criteria
concerning
machinability. Most of the research
work published about cryogenic
machining has revolved around
turning operations most commonly
in combination with steels, nickelbased alloys and titanium-based
alloys
while
several
other
machining operations including
milling and drilling etcetera are
less researched which leaves the
field with a vast amount of
uncharted areas. Although the
technology has been developing for
more than 60 years the general
knowledge on the subject among
machining specialists is relatively
low. There is always room for
improvements
and
further
optimization and rectification of
previous work is essential before
more
generalization
of
the
technique within the industry.

Muhammad Saad Fasih, 63092

References:
A NEW APPROACH OF APPLYING
CRYOGENIC COOLANT IN TURNING
AISI 304. A.A. Khan, M.Y. Ali, M.M.
Haque. 2010. 2010, International
Journal of Mechanical and Materials
Engineering (IJMME), pp. 171-174.
A review of cryogenic cooling in
machining processes. International
Journal
of
Machine
Tools
and
Manufacture, pp. 947-964.
.
Yakup
Yildiz,
Muammer
Nalbant. 2008. 2008, International
Journal
of
Machine
Tools
and
Manufacture, pp. 947-964.
An Experimental Investigation on
Cryogenic Milling of Inconel 718 and
its Sustainability Assessment. Ampara
Aramcharoen, Shaw Kah Chuan.
2014. 2014, Procedia CIRP, pp. 529
534.
Cryogenic Machining of SS304 Steel .
Sunil Magadum, Arun Kumar S,
Yoganath V.G, and C.K.Srinivasa.
Cryogenic turning of the Ti6Al4V
alloy with modified cutting tool
inserts. M. Dhananchezian, M.
Pradeep
Kumar.
2011.
2011,
Cryogenics, pp. 34-40.
DERANI, MOHD NAQIB BIN. 2012.
THE EFFECT OF CRYOGENIC CUTTING

TOOLS ON MACHINING DIFFICULT TO

CUT MATERIAL. 2012.
Effect of cryogenic cooling in milling
process of AISI 304 stainless steel.
Muammer Nalbant, Yakup Yildiz.
2011.
2011,
Transactions
of
Nonferrous Metals Society of China,
pp. 72-79.
Improving tool life using cryogenic
cooling. Ahsan Ali Khan, Mirghani I.
Ahmed. 2008. 2008, journal of
materials processing technology, pp.
149-154.

Stefnsson,
Trausti.
2014.
Application of Cryogenic Coolants in
Machining Processes. Stockholm : s.n.,
2014.
Surface
Integrity
of
AISI
4150
(50CrMo4) Steel Turned with Different
Types of Cooling-lubrication. V. Garca
Navasa, D. Fernndeza , A.
Sanda , C. Sanza , S. Suzonb , T.
Fernndez de Mendiolac. 2014.
2014, Procedia CIRP, pp. 97-102.
The effects of Cryogenic Cooling on
Surface Integrity in Hard Machining.
Umbrello,
Pu,S.Caruso,
J.C.Outerio. 2011. 2011.