Sustainability Assessment during Machining Ti-6Al-4V with Nano-Additives-Based Minimum Quantity Lubrication

Abstract

The implementation of sustainable machining process can be accomplished by different strategies including process optimization and selection of the proper lubrication techniques and cutting conditions. The present study is carried out from the perspective of a sustainability assessment of turning Ti-6Al-4V by employing minimum quantity lubrication (MQL) and MQL-nanofluid with consideration of the surface quality, tool wear, and power consumption. A sustainability assessment algorithm was used to assess the cutting processes of Ti-6Al-4V alloy under a minimum quantity of lubrication–nanofluid to estimate the levels of sustainable design variables. The assessment included the sustainable indicators as well as the machining responses in a single integrated model. The sustainable aspects included in this study were; environmental impact, management of waste, and safety and health issues of operators. The novelty here lies in employing a comprehensive sustainability assessment model to discuss and understand the machining process with MQL-nanofluid, by not only considering the machining quality characteristics, but also taking into account different sustainability indicators. In order to validate the effectiveness of the sustainability results, a comparison between the optimal and predicted responses was conducted and a good agreement was noticed. It should be stated that MQL-nanofluid showed better results compared to the cutting tests conducted under using classical MQL.