Minimum quantity lubrication machining of aeronautical materials using carbon group nanolubricant: From mechanisms to application

It is an inevitable trend of sustainable manufacturing to replace flood and dry machining with minimum quantity lubrication (MQL) technology. Nevertheless, for aeronautical difficult-to -machine materials, MQL couldn't meet the high demand of cooling and lubrication due to high heat generation during machining. Nano-biolubricants, especially non-toxic carbon group nano-enhancers (CGNs) are used, can solve this technical bottleneck. However, the machining mecha-nisms under lubrication of CGNs are unclear at complex interface between tool and workpiece, which characterized by high temperature, pressure, and speed, limited its application in factories and necessitates in-depth understanding. To fill this gap, this study concentrates on the comprehen-sive quantitative assessment of tribological characteristics based on force, tool wear, chip, and sur-face integrity in titanium alloy and nickel alloy machining and attempts to answer mechanisms systematically. First, to establish evaluation standard, the cutting mechanisms and performance improvement behavior covering antifriction, antiwear, tool failure, material removal, and surface formation of MQL were revealed. Second, the unique film formation and lubrication behaviors of CGNs in MQL turning, milling, and grinding are concluded. The influence law of molecular structure and micromorphology of CGNs was also answered and optimized options were recom-mended by considering diverse boundary conditions. Finally, in view of CGNs limitations in MQL, the future development direction is proposed, which needs to be improved in thermal stabil-ity of lubricant, activity of CGNs, controllable atomization and transportation methods, and intel-ligent formation of processing technology solutions.(c) 2021 Chinese Society of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Production and hosting by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).