The influence of EP/AW addition in the MQL method on the parameters of surface geometrical structure in the process of turning 316L steel

Abstract

The methods of cooling with minimum lubrication, MQL, and with minimum cooling and lubrication, MQCL, are often applied in machining nowadays due to their ecological and environmental advantages. The MQL and MQCL methods are a good alternative to dry cutting, especially during machining of hard-to machine steels, where high temperature occurs in the cutting zone and process engineers want high quality of the machined surface. The paper compares four methods of cooling when turning austenitic steel, 316L: dry cutting, MQCL method, MQL method and MQL + EP/AW method. During the experiment, 2D height parameters were monitored, as well as Abbott Firestone curve with the spatial parameters and profiles of selected surfaces have been presented. Due to the large number of variables in the tests, the planning method of Parameter Space Investigation has been used. When applying the MQL cooling method with the addition of EP/AW, the smallest values of Ra and Rz parameters have been obtained in the whole range of the variable parameters of machining. The Abbott Firestone curve, together with the spatial parameters, has proved that a surface manufactured after the process of turning in the MQL + EP/AW conditions shows better exploitation properties.