Influence of Coolant Pressure Size on Surface Roughness when Stainless Steel Machining

Abstract

The paper is focused on the influence of the coolant pressure on the surface roughness of the workpiece when machining stainless steels. The components were machined on a STAR SR-32J dual spindle machining center and an external cooling unit HYTEK CHAV 160/150-AF-F-OL was used for cooling. Two stainless steel components were investigated, namely the gas control valve rod and the high-pressure control valve housing, which require low roughness Ra after machining (less than 0.375 and 0.25 micrometers respectively). The first component was tested at 8 different pressures in the range of 150 bar - 10 bar and the second component at 4 different pressures in the range of 120 bar - 10 bar. The roughness parameters were measured by the contact method using the MITUTOYO Surftest SJ-410 Roughness Tester and the Alicona InfiniteFocus optical microscope. Based on these sample input parameters, it was evaluated howmuch the pressure affects the surface quality or suggested its reduction due to the high cost of operation of the external high-pressure equipment.