Theoretical and experimental study of the chatter vibration in wet and MQL machining conditions in turning process

Turning is one of the most commonly used cutting processes for manufacturing components in production engineering. The turning process, in some cases, is accompanied by intense relative movements between tool and workpiece, which is called chatter vibrations. Chatter has been identified as a detrimental problem that adversely impacts surface finish, tool life, process productivity, and dimensional accuracy of the machined part. Cooling/Lubrication in the turning process is normally done for some reasons, including friction and force reduction, temperature decrement, and surface finish improvement. Wet cooling is a traditional cooling/lubrication process that has been used in machining since the past. Besides, a variety of new cooling and lubricating approaches have been developed in recent years, such as the minimum quantity lubrication (MQL), cryogenic cooling, nanolubrication, etc., due to ecological issues. Despite the importance of cooling/lubrication in machining, there is a lack of research on chatter stability in the presence of cutting fluid in cutting processes. In this study, the chatter vibration in turning process for two cooling/lubrication conditions of conventional wet and MQL is investigated. An integrated theoretical model is used to predict both the metal cutting force and the chatter stability lobe diagram (SLD) in turning process. This model involves deriving a math equation for predicting metal cutting force for both wet and MQL conditions using experimental training force data and a Genetic Expression Programming (GEP)-based regression model. Also, the traditional single degree of freedom chatter model is used here for predicting the SLDs. The chatter model is discussed and verified with experimental tests. Then, the experimental results of the tool's acceleration signal, work surface texture, surface roughness, chip shape, and tool wear are presented and compared for wet and MQL conditions. The results of this study show that the cooling/lubrication systems such as wet or MQL have a considerable effect on the SLDs. Also, the predicted results of metal cutting force and SLD for both wet and MQL techniques are in good agreement with the experimental data. Therefore, it is recommended that for each lubrication condition including wet, or MQL, the SLD be determined to achieve higher machinability.