LAUSR

Abundant application of cutting fluids may increase production cost and cause environmental and health damages, particularly when not properly managed. Thus, alternative measures are needed to overcome the difficulties of using cutting fluids. If sustainable and ecological manufacturing aspects are envisaged, any attempt to improve the machinability of such difficult-to-machine material is always welcome. In this direction, this research work aims to develop experimental set-up as a possible approach to fostering sustainability in metal cutting lubrication to supply solid lubricant at minimum quantity and also to study the effect of applying solid lubricant (molybdenum disulphide and graphite) mixed with oil, during turning of Inconel 718 using cemented carbide tools. The concentration of the solid lubricant in the fluid and the flow rate of the mixture were varied to analyse the main output parameters such as surface roughness, cutting forces and tool life. Experimental findings of this study show that minimum quantity solid lubricant consisting of molybdenum disulphide and oil mixture performed better, and therefore, it may be considered to be a cost-effective and environmental-friendly lubrication technique than flood coolant and sprayed oil with or without graphite to retard all types of damaging processes and to improve machinability characteristics of Inconel 718.