Influence of MoS2 based nanofluid-MQL on tribological and machining characteristics in turning of AA 2024 T3 aluminum alloy

Abstract

Aluminum (Al) alloys are of particular importance to the aerospace industry owing to the combination of characteristics including strength, ductility, toughness, fatigue life and oxidation resistance as a light metal. This is the case of AA 2024 T3 Al alloy. In particular, machining of these alloys has similar importance for productivity and part quality. Recently, the use of nanofluids, which have various advantages in terms of both cooling ability and tribological aspects, has become popular for the efficient machining of such alloys. In this context, guiding data are needed that enable industry and researchers to machine these types of alloys with high efficiency. Taking these into account, in this study, AA 2024 T3 Al alloy was machined and various machinability indicators such as surface roughness, surface topography, maximum temperature and dominant tool wear mechanism under different cooling/lubrication strategies i.e., dry cutting, base fluid minimum quantity lubrication (MQL) and mineral oil based MoS2 nanofluid MQL (NFMQL) were investigated. As a results, significant improvements have been achieved in surface roughness, surface topography, and maximum temperature with help of NFMQL application. The intensive built-up edge (BUE) and built-up layer (BUL) formations are produced on the cutting tool when machining AA 2024 T3 Al alloy under dry cutting. On the other hand, BUE formation has been significantly eliminated thanks to NFMQL. Moreover, a less damaged cutting edge was obtained when machining Al alloy under NFMQL compared to both dry cutting and MQL environments.