Evaluation of cutting fluid performance

It is quite difficult to choose a standard to judge the performance of cutting fluid, and it is also difficult to establish an experimental process to evaluate the efficiency of cutting fluid based on this standard. The transfer of this issue from the laboratory to the factory would be more complex, but the performance of the cutting fluid can also be evaluated through the following methods.
Tool life
The main problem with using tool life to evaluate cutting fluid performance is that the correlation between experimental results and factory measured data is often poor. Because the cutting fluid that is effective for straight edge cutting tools may not necessarily be equally effective for formed edge cutting tools, and vice versa. In addition, the thickness of the chips also affects the adaptability of the cutting fluid. It is much easier to evaluate several cutting fluids under the same specific machining conditions, as the average tool life can be obtained by measuring the change in tool sharpness. Although this evaluation simplifies the process, the testing cost is very expensive.
Smoothness
The surface smoothness test is not as complex as the tool life test. A long test rod can be used to cut with the same tool, and the performance of the cutting fluid can be evaluated by obtaining test data from a surface roughness measuring instrument. The cutting type is very important in this evaluation test. In flat milling, a smooth surface is formed by the second cutting edge, while in cylindrical milling, a new surface is formed by the main cutting edge (axially parallel). Therefore, data obtained from one processing method cannot be used for the evaluation of another processing.
Cooling performance
Using certain professional techniques to measure the cooling capacity of cutting fluid in actual machining can determine its efficiency. Due to the good correlation between the temperature of the tool chip interface and tool life, tool working thermocouples are a very useful technology. But its drawback is that it cannot distinguish whether the temperature decrease is due to the heat transfer of the cutting fluid or the less heat generated during machining.
Lubrication efficiency
The measurement of cutting fluid lubrication efficiency requires the use of a machine tool force gauge. In cutting experiments, the lubricating effect of cutting fluid reduces the feed force and cutting force. The lubrication efficiency of cutting fluid can be calculated by measuring the changes in force. The cutting force increases with the increase of feed amount and decreases with the improvement of cutting fluid lubrication efficiency. If a constant feed force is applied to the tool, the higher the lubrication efficiency of the cutting fluid and the greater the feed amount. This experimental evaluation device is highly sensitive to changes in friction between chips, but requires a device to ensure a constant feed force applied to the chip tool.
Physiological effects
Physiological impact assessment can be carried out by operators, such as using medical research techniques similar to allergy tests for skin irritation reactions. The different physiological reactions of operators can affect their evaluation of cutting fluid.
Skin irritation
Workers work in metal processing workshops and frequently come into contact with metal processing fluids. Many cutting fluid components on the market can cause severe irritation to the human skin, causing redness, itching, contact dermatitis, and molting of the hand skin. Long term exposure to cutting fluids containing toxic ingredients can lead to the absorption of toxic substances from the human skin, resulting in chronic poisoning.
Therefore, when using metal cutting fluids, enterprises should choose safe, environmentally friendly, non-toxic, and high-performance cutting fluids. At the same time, security products are equipped during production to maintain the physical health of employees.
The national requirements for environmental protection and wastewater treatment, the demand for cost savings, and the requirement for enterprises to provide workers with a safe working environment and protect employee health will make safe, non-toxic, low odor, long-lasting, and high-performance metal processing fluids popular.