Mechanism of minimum quantity lubrication in high-speed milling of hardened steel

The rapid wear rate of cutting tools due to high cutting temperature is a critical problem to be solved in high-speed machining (HSM) of hardened steels. Near-dry machining such as minimum quantity lubrication (MQL) is regarded as one of the solutions to this difficulty. However, the function of MQL in HSM is still uncertain so far which prevents MQL from widely being utilized in the machining of hardened steels. In this paper, the mechanism of MQL in HSM of hardened steel is investigated more comprehensively. Comparing with dry cutting, the tool performance can be enhanced by MQL under all cutting speeds in this study. It is found that MQL can provide extra oxygen to promote the formation of a protective oxide layer in between the chip–tool interface. This layer is basically quaternary compound oxides of Fe, Mn, Si, and Al, and is proved to act as diffusion barriers effectively. Hence, the strength and wear resistance of a cutting tool can be retained which leads to a significant improvement of tool life. It is found that there exists an optimal cutting speed at which a stable protective oxide layer can be formed. When cutting speed is lower than this speed, there is less oxide layer and the improvement of tool life is less apparent. As the cutting speed is far beyond the optimal value, the protective layer is absent and the thermal cracks are apt to occur at the cutting edge due to large fluctuation of temperature. Resultantly, application of MQL is inappropriate in the extreme high-speed cutting condition irrespective of its little increase in tool life. Based on this study, it is concluded that the tool life can be effectively improved by MQL in HSM of NAK80 hardened steels when cutting parameters are chosen properly.