An Experimental Evaluation of Solid Lubricant Based Nanofluids in Small Quantity Cooling and Lubrication during Grinding

Abstract

Small quantity cooling lubrication (SQCL) with commercially available metal working fluids (MWF) and nanofluids has been attempted successfully in machining and grinding. Solid lubricants also provided some benefits in grinding of metallic alloys. However, there are very few studies using molybdenum di-sulphide (MoS2) and hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) dispersed nanofluids applied in SQCL mode in grinding. The aim of the present work is to experimentally study improvement in grinding of EN31 steel using alumina grinding wheel with aqueous MoS2 and hBN nanofluids. The grinding study is supported by detailed tribometry at 1 m/s sliding speed to reveal the possible reasons behind such improvement. MoS2 dispersed nanofluids provided minimum coefficient of friction in ball-on-disc test. It also provided the maximum reduction in specific grinding energy and improvement in surface finish with respect to flood cooling. hBN dispersed nanofluids could not match the performance of MoS2 dispersed nanofluids both in ball-on-disc and grinding experiments.