Effects of cutting fluids on drilling aluminium casting alloy 390

The primary objective of this research project was to compare the tool wear resulting when a semi-synthetic cutting fluid was used, to that from use of a premium soluble oil. The secondary objective was to determine the effects of cutting speed, drill diameter, and fluid concentration, on tool wear. The experiments contained two key elements: (1) cast aluminium alloy 390 was used as the workpiece material and (2) deep-hole drilling to a depth greater than two diameters was performed. Numerous drilling tests were performed with each cutting fluid using a flood application. To meet the primary objective, an experiment was designed for each cutting fluid and the wear on the lands of twist drills was measured. The secondary objective utilized a statistically-designed 23 factorial experiment which evaluated the effects that moderate and relatively high cutting speeds, two drill diameters, and two levels of fluid concentration, had on tool wear. After analysis of the test results, it was concluded that concentration had the most significant effect on land wear when the experimentally-formulated semi-synthetic cutting fluid was used. Cutting speed was the most significant factor when drilling with the commercially-available premium soluble oil. Tool wear while using the semi-synthetic fluid was slightly less than that for the premium soluble oil.