Performance of Minimum Quantity Lubrication System with Vegetable Oils in Turning

Cutting fluid application has been widely used in machining process to extend tool life. However, conventional cutting fluid methods have been the main cause of environmental issues and deterioration of workers health. This study focused on development of Minimum Quantity Lubrication (MQL) system using vegetable oils as cutting fluids. MQL applies a very small amount of cutting fluid as compared to conventional method which discharges a very large amount of cutting fluid. Vegetable oils as cutting fluids are safe to be released to the working environment which was found no harm to humans. Performance evaluation of the developed MQL system was done based on cutting temperature and tool wear using six different types of vegetable oils which are palm oil, corn oil, sunflower seed oil, soy oil, canola oil and olive oil. This MQL system was tested on turning of AISI 1045 mild steel using coated carbide insert with comparison to dry cutting and water mist cooling. The experimental results showed that the developed MQL system is able to reduce cutting temperature and tool wear by a very reasonable proportion if compared to dry cutting