A Comparative Sustainability Assessment of Cutting Fluids Usage in Band Sawing

Abstract

AbstractCutting fluids used in machining have received a lot of attention due to their adverse environmental and economic effects. Researchers have studied cutting fluid usage in traditional machining processes such as turning, facing, milling, etc. However, few studies focused on the cutting fluid used in band sawing applications. This study reports a literature review of the usage of the cutting fluid in band sawing and their sustainable and economic aspects. A review of the literature and industrial data has shown that the majority of band saw blades use high-speed steel as the cutting tool material for cutting metal. This study presents a metric-based sustainability assessment and a detailed analysis of recent economic factors such as the cost of the cutting fluids used in band sawing through industrial case studies. A global survey of the cutting fluid usage in the bandsawing application has shown that the majority of the industry is employing flood coolant application. The flood coolant application cost can be as high as 8% of the total consumables cost of the band sawing process.