Enhancement of Surface Finish Using Water-Miscible Nano-Cutting Fluid in Ultra-Precision Turning

International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 73 (2013) 62–70

Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect

International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijmactool

Enhancement of surface finish using water-miscible nano-cutting fluid in ultra-precision turning

C.Y. Chan, W.B. Lee n, H. Wang

State Key Laboratory of Ultra-precision Machining Technology, Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, P.R. China

art ic l e i nf o

Article history: Received 19 March 2013 Received in revised form 14 June 2013 Accepted 18 June 2013 Available online 27 June 2013 Keywords: Ultra-precision machining Water-miscible cutting fluid Nano-droplets Chip morphology Surface finish

a b s t r a c t

This paper presents an experimental study on the enhancement effect of the low viscosity cutting fluid enriched with nano-droplets (NDCF) in ultra-precision turning. Unlike the conventional method in which the enhancement is done by adding nano-metric particles, no suspension particles are mixed to produce the NDCF in this paper. Instead, the NDCFs are produced by atomisation of the cutting fluid that circulates in a closed-loop treatment device. The atomisation process is found to reduce the viscosity of the NDCF significantly by the formation of nano-droplets (NDs). The reduced viscosity of the NDCFs could be increased by diluting them with water. The bench tests on wetting properties reveal that the NDCF demonstrates two distinct properties: a very linear spreading rate and a relatively low contact angle. These two properties assist the NDCF in penetrating deeper into the tool–chip and tool–work interfaces and hence provides a better lubrication effect at these interfaces. In this paper, the ultra-precision cylindrical turning experiments reveal that the droplet size of the NDCF is a more important factor than viscosity on affecting...