Important Effects of Cutting Fluid on Aluminum Alloy Processing
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Important Effects of Cutting Fluid on Aluminum Alloy Processing
During the metal cutting process, a large amount of heat is generated at the interface between the metal and the tool, and the temperature can reach 600-1000 °C. This has a great impact on the surface quality of the workpiece, dimensional accuracy, tool life, kinetic energy consumption and production efficiency.
The use of cutting fluid can take away the heat generated by cutting in time. The scouring effect of the large-flow cutting fluid enables the chips to be separated from the machined surface in time, cleaning the fixture and the machine guard, so that the workpiece can achieve good processing quality.
In the process of cutting aluminum alloy, the selection of the three process indicators of emulsion concentration, pressure and flow has a huge impact on the processing quality of parts.
1. Selection of cutting fluid concentration
The cutting fluid used at the factory site is a working fluid diluted by adding water to the cutting fluid concentrate. Only when the concentration of the working fluid is maintained within the specified range can the cutting fluid perform its proper function. If the concentration of cutting fluid is too low, problems such as rust, increased tool wear, reduced processing quality, reduced antibacterial performance, and easy corruption and odor are prone to occur. On the contrary, if the concentration of the cutting fluid is too high, it will not only increase the processing cost, but also may lead to a series of problems such as a decrease in the cleaning and cooling properties of the cutting fluid, a decrease in defoaming performance, irritation to the eyes and respiratory tract of the operator, and skin allergies. question. Therefore, maintaining the appropriate concentration of cutting fluid is an important part of water-based cutting fluid management, and concentration inspection is usually used as an important indicator of cutting fluid management.
- Open cutting methods such as turning and milling have smooth chip removal, and the chip fluid mainly plays the role of cooling and flushing chips, and the concentration is not high. Generally, a cutting fluid with a concentration of about 3% to 5% is selected.
- When cutting in closed places such as drilling and tapping, the processing environment is harsh, the chip removal is not smooth, and the tool and the workpiece are squeezed against each other. The lubricating performance requirements are relatively high, and the cutting fluid with a concentration of 5% to 8% is generally used for drilling.
- The workpiece is severely squeezed by the tool during tapping, so it is more appropriate to choose a cutting fluid containing extreme pressure additives with a concentration of 8% to 10%.
2. Pressure selection of cutting fluid
The high-pressure flushing of cutting fluid plays the role of chip breaking and flushing in part processing. In some hole processing occasions, especially deep hole processing, the pressure of cutting fluid has a crucial impact on the quality of the machined surface and the life of the tool. When selecting cutting fluid, it is necessary to comprehensively consider the cost of the machine tool. The higher the pressure of the cutting fluid, the higher the configuration requirements for the machine tool, and the higher the overall cost.
Generally, CNC machine tools are equipped with ordinary chip cooling systems, and central cooling systems are selected when processing requirements are high.
The cutting fluid required for ordinary chip flushing can be selected with low pressure and large flow parameters to timely remove the cutting heat and the chips attached to the workpiece, guard plate and fixture. Ordinary chip cooling generally uses a pressure parameter of 0.04-0.06MPa.
The central cooling system uses a high-pressure pump. The high-pressure cutting fluid passes through the center of the spindle, then passes through the tool body, and is directly sprayed to the cutting position of the tool. The high-pressure water flow is used to break chips and forcefully flush out the chips in a narrow space to achieve chip breaking. Cooling, lubricating, flushing chip effect. According to the choice of pressure, the central cooling system can be divided into four grades: low pressure, medium pressure, high pressure and ultra high pressure.
3. Cutting fluid flow selection
The scouring effect of the cutting fluid washes away the chips remaining on the workpiece, cleans and cleans the fixture, and takes away the cutting heat. Generally speaking, the greater the flow rate of the cutting fluid, the more obvious the chip flushing effect and the better the cooling effect. However, the larger the flow rate, the larger the capacity of the water tank for storing the cutting fluid, and the corresponding increase in manufacturing costs and equipment footprint. Therefore, the cutting fluid flow rate is not as large as possible, but should be as small as possible under the condition of meeting the working conditions, so as to reduce the total cost. In order to facilitate heat dissipation and supply sufficient cutting fluid, the capacity of the water tank should be 3 to 5 times the flow rate of the system cooling pump.
Selection of emulsion in various working conditions of aluminum alloy processing
The use of emulsion in processing mainly plays the role of cooling, lubricating, flushing chips and so on. Aluminum alloys have one distinct advantage over most steel and cast iron materials: lower yield strength. Its flexibility poses two serious problems:
First, the phenomenon of bonding is prone to occur. Aluminum particles bond to the surface of the cutting tool, seriously affecting the surface roughness of the workpiece, or forming a “bonded” built-up edge on the tool, resulting in poor cutting trace.
Second, due to the high ductility of aluminum, it may form long strip cracks, making the cutting process difficult, and the cut debris is difficult to be taken away by the cutting fluid.
During rough machining, the machining allowance and cutting amount are large, which will generate a large amount of cutting heat and severe friction, which will easily lead to rapid wear of the tool, and the purpose of using cutting fluid is to reduce the temperature of the cutting area, so it is advisable to use cooling Sex-based cutting fluids, such as water-soluble synthetic cutting fluids or low-concentration emulsions. During finishing machining, the main function of the cutting fluid is to improve the machining accuracy of the workpiece and reduce the surface roughness. At this time, it is advisable to choose a cutting fluid with better lubricating performance and cooling performance.
2. Selection of Cutting Fluids in Machining by Different Processes
When performing face milling, the cutting speed is fast, the cutting volume of the tool is large, and there are many chips. The chips are washed away in time to avoid scratching the machined surface. During hole processing, it is difficult to remove chips, and the friction between the tool, workpiece and chips will generate a lot of heat, which cannot be transferred out in time, causing tool burns and seriously damaging the surface roughness of the workpiece. In order to solve this problem, in addition to reasonably selecting the geometric angle of the tool to ensure chip separation, chip breaking and chip removal, the choice of cutting fluid is the key. At this time, cutting fluid with better cooling, lubrication and cleaning performance should be selected, such as extremely Compressed emulsion.
For aluminum alloy processing, choosing a suitable cutting tool is also important. For milling processing, uncoated solid carbide end mills are generally used in the market. If we want much higher cutting efficiency, the normal uncoated end mills can not meet the requirement. Then the new coating technology emerges: DLC coating. Diamond-like carbon (DLC) is a class of amorphous carbon material that displays some of the typical properties of diamond. DLC is usually applied as coatings to other materials that could benefit from such properties.
What is the features and advantages of DLC coating end mills?
Adopt the latest DLC color coating to improve the wear resistance of the end mill, and the service life is increased by 2-3 times.
Special U-shaped chip breaker design can reduce vibration when milling, and makes chip removal more smooth. thereby improving the processing efficiency.
All end mills have been passivated by our imported passivation equipment to enhance the polished surface finish, and reduce the slightly worn produced during tool grinding so that the workpiece has a better surface finish.
Enables wet and dry machining of aluminum alloys
If you are processing aluminum alloy, try to use DLC coating solid carbide end mills, then your workers and your customers will love it!
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