Environmental Assessment and Optimization When Machining with Micro-textured Cutting Tools

Abstract The dry machining strategy has recently received high attention in the field of metal cutting as it can eliminate the environmental impacts associated with the usage of cutting fluids. However, high-generated heat and severe tool wear are usually observed for the dry machining operations. One of the suggested techniques to improve the dry machining performance is to utilize the textured cutting tools, reducing the friction at the chip-tool interface. In this study, three different micro-textured tool designs were used during the machining AISI 1045 at different cutting conditions. A life cycle assessment was performed including the power consumption for preparing the textured tool designs and the measured power during the machining experiments. Furthermore, some measured machining outputs (flank wear, surface roughness, and the unit volume machining time) were further included to offer a comprehensive and effective sustainability assessment for the performance of the utilized textured tools. The performance of these textured tools was also compared with the non-textured tool under the same cutting conditions. The textured tool design with narrow micro-groove width showed better sustainable performance compared to the non-textured tool and other textured tool designs.