Application of Air Cooling Technology and Minimum Quantity Lubrication to Relief Grinding of Cutting Tools

This study focuses on applying the environmentally friendly cooling-air grinding and minimum quantity lubricant (MQL) methods to relief surface tool grinding. The resultant grinding behavior is characterized. Grinding fluids have been commonly used during the grinding of tools for their cooling and lubricating effect since the hard, robust materials used for cutting tools are difficult to grind. Grinding fluids help to prevent a drop in hardness due to burning of the cutting edge and keep chipping to an absolute minimum. However, there is a heightened awareness of the need to improve the work environment and protect the global environment [1]. The present study is aimed at applying dry grinding, cooling-air grinding, and MQL to the relief surface grinding process. This new approach is compared with the conventional method that utilizes grinding fluid. The combination of cooling-air and MQL grinding is found to perform well and is better than the conventional grinding with grinding fluid.