Droplet Spray Behavior of an Atomization-Based Cutting Fluid (ACF) System for Machining of Titanium Alloys (original) (raw)

The atomization-based cutting fluid (ACF) spray system has recently been proposed as a cooling and lubrication solution for machining hard to machine materials (e.g., titanium alloys). On the tool rake face, the ACF spray system forms a thin film from cutting fluid that penetrates into the tool–chip interface to improve tool life. The objective of this work is to characterize this thin fluid film in terms of thickness and velocity for a set of ACF spray parameters. ACF spray experiments are performed by varying impingement angle to observe the nature of the spreading film and to determine the film thickness at different locations after impingement of the droplets. It is observed that the film spreads radially outward producing three fluid film development zones (i.e., impingement, steady, and unsteady). The steady zone is found to be between 3 and 7 mm from the focus (impingement point) of the ACF spray for the set of parameters investigated. An analytical 3D thin fluid film model f...