Surface quality improvement in CNC end milling of aluminum alloy using nanolubrication system

Abstract

Aerospace applications and energy saving strategies in general raised the interest and study in the field of lightweight materials, especially on aluminum alloys. Aluminum Al2017-T4 and Al6061-T6 alloy which are used in this research work have low specific weight and high strength.The (CNC) milling machine facilities provides a wide variety of parameters setup, making the machining process of the aluminum alloy excellent in manufacturing complicated special products. However, the demand for high quality focuses attention especially on the roughness of the machined surface. The key solution for this issue is by introducing the nanolubrication system since it could produce much less friction in the tool-chip interface. In this research work, the Al2017-T4 and Al6061-T6 is machined by using the carbon onion nanoparticle and SiO 2 nanoparticles, respecticely when it mixed with ordinary mineral oil at various concentrations as a nanolubrication system. The reduction of surface roughness could be obtained when carbon onion and SiO 2 nanolubricant are used compared with the case of using ordinary lubricant due to the tribological properties of the carbon onion and SiO 2 nanolubricant to reduce the coefficient of friction in the tool-chip interface. © 2013 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht.