Effect of MQL, wet and dry lubrication on functional behavior of end milled nimonic-263

Abstract

The demand for lower costs with eco-friendly characteristics has stimulated the use of alternate machining practices. The intrinsic properties of Ni-based aerospace alloy make it an uphill task to perform machining on it. The ease of machining of these alloys can be achieved by optimizing the cutting conditions with use of efficient and effective cooling mechanism. The methodology aims to predetermine the MQL performance on surface characteristics over dry and wet conditions and to determine the optimum machining parameters which provides substantial influence on functional attributes such as load bearing ability, wear resistance, etc. The feed rate (2, 20 and 50 mm/min), flow rate (5, 8 and 11 ml/min for MQL) and spindle speed (1000, 2500, 4000 rpm) were used as machining parameters (Independent variables) to govern the alterations in surface profile characteristics such as surface roughness, surface topography and surface morphology of the end milled Nimonic-263 alloy. Furthermore, the ANOVA statistical analysis shows the strong influence of the machining environment over the surface profile parameters. Additionally, the chip morphology (dry machining) was analyzed to examine the effect of variation in machining conditions over the shearing mechanism and its impact on generation of surface profiles. Finally, it has been found that the MQL with intermediate cutting conditions can be an alternative which offers better functional characteristics.