Comparative analysis between the use of vegetable and synthetic oil in CNC milling operations

The present study shows a comparative analysis between the use of vegetable and synthetic oil in the minimum quantity lubrication (MQL) system in CNC milling operations using the AISI 4140 steel. In addition, it is studied the influence of the surface finish using both coolants. The study was carried out using an MQL system with vegetable and synthetic oil, with parameters such as cutting speed (Vc) of 180, 200 and 220 m•min-1 and feed per tooth (fz) of 0.05, 0.1 and 0.15 mm*tooth-1. The methodology used for the development of the experiment is the stated by Genichi Taguchi with an orthogonal array of 27 experiments aimed at determining the best surface roughness, finding that the best roughness results when combining the vegetable oil in the MQL system, a cutting speed of 220 m•min-1 and a feed per tooth of 0.05 mm*tooth-1. Therefore, it was demonstrated that the vegetable oil in combination with the MQL system fulfills in a better way its functionality as a cooling lubricant in CNC milling operations of the AISI 4140 steel.