Performance of Graphite Based Nanofluid in MQL Grinding of Mild Steel

Abstract

Grinding of any metallic materials are usually done under flood cooling using cutting fluid. However, excessive use of cutting fluid is not environmentally friendly. Researchers in the field are always looking for efficient as well as environmentally friendly grinding process for sustainable development. Minimum quantity lubrication with nanofluid is found to be one of the ways out. The main objective of this research is to identify the competitive effectiveness of MQL grinding over dry and flood cooling grinding. Graphite nanoparticles created from 2B pencil leads were mixed with ACCU-LUBE LB-3000 cutting fluid to prepare the nanofluid. Taguchi L9 Orthogonal Array was used to design the experiments. There were total of nine experiments, where three experiments were conducted under each of dry, flood-cooling and MQL with graphite-oil-based nanofluid conditions. Surface roughness and signal-to-noise ratios were analyzed. It was found that the condition during grinding is the largest contributor to surface roughness, contributing 54.82% of total, while depth of cut contributes 42.43% to the grinding process. Furthermore, grinding with MQL with graphite-oil-based nanofluid gives the lowest surface roughness value. After analyzing the S/N ratio and ANOVA, the optimum grinding condition is found to be MQL with graphite-oil-based nanofluid and 40 μm depth of cut.