The Jatropha curcas vegetable base soluble cutting oil as a renewable source in the machining of aluminum alloy 7050-T7451

Abstract

Purpose

This article aims to collect data on the aluminum alloy 7050-T7451 machinability used in the manufacturing of aeronautical structures, using the combination of the jatropha vegetable-base soluble cutting oil in relation to the canola vegetal and semisynthetic mineral oils and the technique to apply cutting fluid by flood in relation to the Minimum Quantity Lubrication (MQL) in the milling process (HSM – high-speed machining).

Design/methodology/approach

It was observed that the jatropha vegetal cutting oil presented the best results in relation to requirements for lubrication, superficial mean roughness (index Ra) and shape errors in relation to the other oils in both the techniques to apply fluid which were tested. Comparing the application techniques, the jatropha vegetal oil offered an increase in the life span of the cutting tool, using the flood technique, exceeding in almost six times the machined length of the cutting tool in relation to the MQL technique in the same process conditions.

Findings

The Jatropha vegetable-base cutting oil, besides being produced from a renewable source, has inherent characteristics that can help attain a sustainable manufacturing, mainly with the use of the flood technique to apply cutting fluid in the aluminum alloy 7050-T7451 machining.

Originality/value

The Jatropha (vegetable) oil, in relation to its physicochemical properties, appeared to be the best one fit for being used in the machining of aluminum alloys 7050-T7451 because it did not interfere with any of the elements involved in the formation of intergranular corrosion and/or pitting, which are not allowed in the aeronautical production of parts. Jatropha (vegetable) cutting oil, besides being produced from a clean and renewable source, has the inherent characteristics that can help attain a sustainable manufacturing.

Citation

Bork, C.A.S., Gonçalves, J.F.S. and Gomes, J.O. (2015), "The Jatropha curcas vegetable base soluble cutting oil as a renewable source in the machining of aluminum alloy 7050-T7451", Industrial Lubrication and Tribology, Vol. 67 No. 2, pp. 181-195. https://doi.org/10.1108/ILT-09-2014-0090