Performance of supercritical carbon dioxide sprays as coolants and lubricants in representative metalworking operations

This paper investigates the cooling and lubrication properties of supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO₂) sprays as potential substitutes for aqueous emulsions and straight oils used in the metalworking industry today. Sprays of rapidly expanding scCO₂ act to cool and lubricate machining and forming processes by delivering a mixture of dry ice and lubricant deep into the cutting/forming zone. In this work, experiments with turning, milling, drilling, thread cutting, and thread forming were performed with scCO₂ and other metalworking fluids (MWFs) to evaluate their relative performance with respect to tool wear and machining torque. Observations reveal that scCO₂–MWFs are more effective in removing heat from the tool-workpiece interface than conventionally delivered (flood) aqueous MWFs as well as other gas-based MWF sprays. In addition, scCO₂–MWFs delivered in lubricant-expanded phase, where scCO₂ is used to increase volume of lubricant in the spray field, are shown to provide better lubricity than straight oils and oil-in-air minimum quantity lubrication (MQL) sprays. As a result, scCO₂–MWFs can reduce tool wear and improve machining productivity in a wide range of manufacturing operations leading to appreciable improvements in the economics of manufacturing. Also given that CO₂ is a recovered waste gas that is non-toxic, scCO₂–MWFs can improve the environmental and worker health performance of manufacturing operations.