Performance evaluation of rubber seed oil based cutting fluid in turning mild steel

Abstract

Due to the negative effects associated with the wide use of mineral oil, the desire for eco-friendly cutting fluids as alternative to mineral oil has become a global issue. In this study, rubber seed oil was used to formulate oil-in-water emulsion cutting fluid. Full factorial design was used for the formulation of the oil-in-water emulsion cutting fluid. The optimal process parameters obtained were used for the formulation of the novel cutting fluid and the cutting fluid was characterised. The characteristics of the formulated cutting fluid shows viscosity of 4.25 mm2/s, pH value of 8.3, high stability and corrosion resistant. Box-Behnken design was used for the turning operation and the performance of the rubber seed oil cutting fluid was compared with mineral oil. The input parameters were cutting speed, feed rate and depth of cut, while the responses were surface roughness and cutting temperature. Coated carbide insert was used as cutting tool. The ANOVA results show that the feed rate had the most significant effect on the surface roughness and cutting temperature followed by the cutting speed and depth of cut during the turning process. It was observed that the rubber seed oil based cutting fluid reduced surface roughness and cutting temperature by 9.79% and 1.66% respectively and therefore, it can be concluded that the rubber seed oil based cutting fluid performed better than the mineral oil in turning of mild steel.