Potential of Modern Lubricoolant Strategies on Cutting Performance

This paper shows current research results in the field of high-pressure lubricoolant supply and cryogenic cooling. Since the performance of a high-pressure lubricoolant supply in turning titanium and nickel-based alloys has been proven in many previous papers, this paper focuses on the quantification of the potential in turning different steels, namely quenched and tempered but also stainless steels in comparison to the conventional flood cooling. Since energy efficiency is very crucial, pressure and flow rate have to be adjusted carefully and in accordance with the cutting parameters in order to guarantee best results using only a minimal amount of energy. Moreover the effects of cryogenic cooling with CO2 will be evaluated in comparison to high-pressure cooling and conventional flood cooling. In the field of cryogenic cooling with CO2, cutting tests were carried out under variation of the CO2-flow rate in order to find the minimum required value for a certain machining task with the overall aim to prevent waste of the CO2. Especially in cryogenic cooling technologies, many fundamental research regarding the working mechanisms but also further developments in cutting tool and machine tool technology are still necessary to make this technology ready for industrial use.