Beneficial effects of cryogenic cooling over dry and wet machining on toolwear and surface finish in turning AISI 1060 steel

High production machining of steel inherently generate high cutting tempera ture, which not only reduces tool life but also impairs the product quality . Conventional cutting fluids are ineffective in controlling the high cutti ng temperature and rapid tool wear, Further, they also deteriorate the work ing environment and lead to general environmental pollution. Attempts have already been initiated to control the pollution problem by cryogenic coolin g which helps also in getting rid of recycling and disposal of conventional fluids. The present work deals with experimental investigation in the role of cryog enic cooling by liquid nitrogen jet on tool wear and surface finish in plai n turning of AISI 1060 steel at industrial speed-feed combination by two ty pes of carbide inserts of different geometric configurations. The results have been compared with dry machining and machining with solubl e oil as coolant. The results of the present work indicate substantial bene fit of cryogenic cooling on tool life and surface finish. This may be attri buted to mainly reduction in cutting zone temperature and favorable change in the chip-tool interaction. Further, it was evident that machining with s oluble oil cooling failed to provide any significant improvement in tool li fe, rather surface finish deteriorated. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.