Study of alternative lubricants to the cold extrusion of steel shafts

The proposal of this work is to develop an alternative lubrication process to the cold extrusion associated to lubricants which are less pollutant and present similar results in terms of extrusion load and product quality. Four lubricants were analyzed (a mineral oil, a semi-synthetic oil, powder soap and wheat flour) and two lubrication methods were applied (immersion and hydrostatic). Statistical methods applied to the results of the experimental tests indicated that some processes and lubricants could be used as substitutes for common lubricants used in industry, since they presented results of extrusion load and product quality similar to those obtained in the industry with the conventional lubrication. It was found that for just one deformation stage, wheat flour was the best lubricant, and that for two deformation stages, the mineral oil was the best lubricant for the second extrusion stage. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.