High Speed Grinding of EN31 Steel with Alumina Nanofluid Coolant

Abstract

Grinding is a choice for obtaining high surface quality and closer dimensional tolerance. For meeting this objective economically, the material removal rate (MRR) must be sacrificed to certain extent. The MRR could be increased by either increase in wheel speed, depth of cut, and feed rate. An increase in MRR increases the surface temperature leading to thermal defects on surfaces. Improving the MRR without compromising the surface quality is a challenging objective. Many investigations are progressing for machining various materials under different cooling environments to meet such challenges. This experimental novel aim is to investigate the performance of Al2O3 nanofluid in high-speed grinding of EN31 steel under flood cooling method for reduction of surface roughness and cutting zone temperature. Taguchi’s full factorial design was employed for experimental investigation. The factors such as feed, depth of cut and cutting fluid environment were considered for analysing the responses of cutting zone temperature and surface roughness. The thermal analysis on the work piece was carried out with experimental values by the finite element analysis method. The nanofluids outperform in terms of reduction of surface roughness and downsizing cutting zone temperature. The proposed nanofluid-based grinding significantly reduced the surface roughness and cutting zone temperature.