CUTTING FLUIDS

Workshop Technology II (FEC 258)

Outline:
 Meaning of Cutting Fluid
 Purpose
 Properties
 Modes of Application
 Types
 Advantages and Disadvantages
 Industrial Application
 Selection of Cutting Fluid

What is Cutting Fluid?

Cutting fluid is the liquid used in the metal working process like cutting, drilling, milling, turning
etc, to reduce the heat produced due to the deformation and machining process to lubricate for
reducing friction and wear and tear on the work-piece.

Sometimes, it is also known as a coolant or lubricant but, it is wrong because it performs many
functions beyond cooling and lubricating. It helps in achieving an excellent surface finish and
great dimensional control.

Cutting fluid is evolved from water. Initially, during the metalworking process, water was used
as the cutting fluid. You might have seen a blacksmith using water for shaping metal. Water is
excellent at cooling but, it lacks lubricating capabilities and not good at decreasing friction while
cutting. This lead to the formation of cutting fluid. It is the mixture of water and oil with an
emulsifier that forces water to mix with oil. It can go even further by adding a chemical to form
synthetic fluid.

Figure 1: Heat Reduction Using Cutting Fluid

Purpose of Cutting Fluid:
The following are four purposes of cutting fluid:
i. Temperature control
ii. Lubrication
iii. Cleaning the machine and,
iv. Prevention of harmful contamination.

Temperature Control: Cutting fluid supports to minimize the friction & heat produced between
tool and work-piece as an increase in the temperature can reduce the tool’s life.

Lubrication: Cutting fluids help in lubricating the tool and the work-piece to reduce the friction
and cutting forces to increase the tool’s life and surface finish.

Cleaning the Machine: Cutting fluids help in the removal of chips, particles, and debris which
can further damage the surface finish.

Prevents Harmful Contamination: Cutting fluids develop a thin layer on the work-piece, thus,
prevent contamination from harmful gases like SO2, O2, H2S2 in the atmosphere.

Properties of Cutting Fluids:

The following are some properties of cutting fluids :

i. High Heat Absorption Capacity

ii. Good lubricating quality
iii. Very High Flash Point
iv. High Stability
v. Neutral Properties
vi. Must be odorless
vii. It must be harmless
viii. Transparent
ix. Low Viscosity and
x. Low Price.

High Heat Absorption Capacity: The fluid must have a high heat-absorbing capacity so that it
can reduce the heat produced by metal working (or cutting process).

Good lubricating quality: Reduces the coefficient of friction between work-piece and tool,
hence reducing the wear of the tool.

Very High Flash Point: Having a lower flash point can lead to inflammation, thus, cutting fluid
must have a high flash point to avoid accidents.

High Stability: The oxidization of cutting liquid with the air present in the atmosphere must be
very less.
Neutral Properties: The cutting liquid must not react with the other chemicals.

Must be odorless: The cutting liquid must not produce a bad odor.

It must be harmless: The cutting liquid should not harm any human being or worker. It must be
safe to use.

Transparent: The fluid must be transparent so that the tool’s operation on the work piece can be
easily visible.

Low Viscosity: The cutting fluid must have a low viscosity to provide smooth fluidity on the
work-piece surface or the tool.

Low Price: The cutting liquid must be affordable so that it reduces the production cost.

Modes of Application of Cutting Fluid on the Work-piece or Tool:

i. Manual Application- Under this method, a worker pours the cutting liquid manually on the
work-piece or tool with the help of a container or oil can. It is the simplest and economical
method that requires the least effort. But it is also the least used method in the machining process
due to inconsistency in flow.

ii. Flood Application- This technique uses a pipe, hose, or nozzle system for delivering the
cutting fluid to the tool or the work-piece. To produce maximum results fluid is flown by the
nozzle under high pressure.

iii. Mist Application- This method is used to atomize & blow the cutting fluid over the surface
of the work-piece/tool. For the implementation of this technique, there should be appropriate
ventilation to protect the worker. For the successful application of this technique, the pressure
and direction of mist are critical.

Figure 2: Application of Cutting Fluid

Types of Cutting Fluid:

The following are the different types of cutting fluid:

i. Liquid Type or Semi-Synthetic Fluid

ii. Synthetic Cutting Fluid

iii. Semi-Solid

iv. Gaseous

v. Soluble Oils

vi. Mineral Oils and

vii. Straight Oils Cutting fluid

Liquid Type Cutting Fluid Or Semi-Synthetic Fluid:

Emulsification of oils with the water base forms a liquid coolant. Water alone is a good coolant
but, it cannot be used as a cutting fluid because of its corrosive and non-lubricating properties.
Mineral oils are added to the water to make proper cutting fluid also called as Semi-Synthetic
Cutting Fluid. Examples of liquid-type are kerosene, motor oil, etc.

Synthetic Cutting Fluid:

These are water-based fluids without mineral oils. These are of particulate measurement
0.03mm. Water has excellent cooling properties but lacks lubricating properties and leads to
corrosion So, rust inhibitors are added to prevent rust formation.

Semi-Solid Cutting Fluid:

Gel or paste-based cutting fluid is known as semi-solid cutting fluids. There are certain
operations like drilling, boring, tapping where it is complicated to use liquid-type cutting liquid.
So here, the semi-solid cutting liquid is applied. These fluids are generally expensive than liquid
type, but these are used in little quantity without a continuous supply.

Gaseous Cutting Fluid:

These are the best and cheapest as it includes atmospheric air as cutting fluid. Sometimes, at the
cutting edge, a mist supply is given with the liquid and compressed air. The compressed air
works best as a coolant as it has good thermal properties and also blows away the chips.
Soluble Oils:

Soluble oil is the most commonly used cutting fluids used in machining operations. This is made
of soluble oils, emulsifiers, additives, and water (1%-20%). It is suitable for machining
operations like a light cutting operation that requires low metal removal rates.

Mineral Oils:

These are suitable for heavier metal operations due to their excellent lubricating ability. These
apply to production machining operations where high metal removal rates are required. These
should not be applied to copper or its alloy due to its corrosive property.

Straight Oils:

Vegetable oils or Petroleum oils that are used without mixing water are called straight oils.
Examples of straight oils are Paraffin oil, Naphthenic oils, Vegetable oils. These have excellent
lubrication ability. Vegetable oils were generally used due to their environment-friendly
properties like biodegradability, but they are little in use because of their bad smell.

Advantages of Cutting Fluids:

The following are advantages of cutting fluid:

i. Higher surface finish and better dimensional quality is obtained due to the use of cutting fluid
in machining operation.

ii. Reduction in the cost of the tool as cutting fluids increases the life of the tool by reducing the
wear and tear of the tool.

iii. The production speed increases as cutting fluid reduces friction and heat produced due to
deformation, so cutting functions can be performed at a higher speed.

iv, Power consumption reduces as friction reduces, so less power is required in the machining
operation.

v. Cutting fluids helps in avoiding corrosion on the surface of the work-piece.

vi. It has low toxicity, so does not harm the workers.

Disadvantages of Cutting Fluid

The following are disadvantages of cutting fluid:

i. For certain machining processes, it requires a costly engineering system for the application of
cutting fluid.

ii. Disposal of the fluids prepared is not an easy task as it requires a long time and can cause
environmental issues.
iii. The fluid needs to be prepared and after use needs to be filtered for reuse or disposal.

iv. Some fluids cause health hazards due to chemicals and additives added during preparation.
If not used properly can cause health issues.

v. Some metal are affected due to the use of cutting fluids, so they must be used carefully.

vi. Some of the materials get affected due to thermal shock, so again, they must be used
carefully.

Industrial Application Of Cutting Fluids:

1. Cutting fluids are used in many industries but specifically in the metalworking industry.
Cutting with the tools having low strength as high-speed steels requires the use of cutting fluids.
This is because cutting at high speed increases the temperature of the tool, reducing its
mechanical strength, thus reducing the life of the tool. In this example, using cutting fluids can
help in reducing the temperature of the tool allowing it to function properly. Operations where
using cutting fluids are essential are drilling, broaching, milling, threading, with huge
momentum.

2. Operations that require a smooth surface and tight dimensional tolerance require the use of
cutting fluids because in these cases lubricant can provide a good surface finish and cooling can
provide tight dimensional tolerance.

3. Application of cutting fluids becomes necessary in the operations like drilling that generates
chips continuously. In these cases, the main function of cutting fluid is to remove chips away
from the cutting tool otherwise the chips can cause damage to the tool.

Figure 3: Heat Generation in the Deformation Zones

Selection of Cutting Fluids

The selection of cutting fluids depends on the following parameter:
i. It depends mainly on the material of the work-piece and the material of the tools used in
operation.

ii. The kind of operation that is carried out is also a major factor responsible for deciding the
cutting fluids.

iii. Lastly, it depends on the cooling effect required in the machining operation.