TWO-COMPONENT CUTTING/COOLANT FLUIDS FOR HIGH-SPEED MACHINING

A PHASE I PROGRAM IS PROPOSED TO INVESTIGATE THE POTENTIAL FOR DEVELOPMENT OF NEW CUTTING/LUBRICATING FLUID SLURRIES THAT WOULD HAVE SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER THERMAL CAPACITIES THANTHOSE CURRENTLY AVAILABLE AND WOULD HAVE POTENTIAL APPLICATION TO HIGH-SPEED MACHINING. SIGNIFICANT RESULTS HAVE BEEN ACHIEVED ON A NUMBER OF OTHER SBIR PROJECTS AT TRDC (FOR NASA AND DOD) THAT HAVE UTILIZED PRESSURIZED, CLOSED-LOOP CIRCULATING SYSTEMS WITH TWO-COMPONENT SLURRIES CONTAINING MICROENCAPSULATED PHASE CHANGE MATERIALS (PCMS) TO ENHANCE FLUID HEAT STORAGE AND TRANSPORT. THE PROPOSED PROGRAM WOULD UTILIZE THESE RESULTS TO INVESTIGATE TWO-COMPONENT PCM FLUID SLURRIES TAILORED FOR POTENTIAL USE FOR THE HIGH-SPEED MACHINING OF METALS. FLUID SLURRIES WILL BE DESIGNED, FABRICATED, AND TESTED IN BOTH THE LABORTORY AND THE MACHINE SHOP TO DEMONSTRATE THE CONCEPTUALFEASIBILITY FOR PROVISION OF SUPERIOR COOLING AND LUBRICATING PERFORMANCE FOR MACHINING OPERATIONS AT ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE. THE DERIVATION OF NEW COOLING AND LUBRICATING FLUIDS WITH SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVED THERMAL PROPERTIES COULD SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASE CUTTING TOOL LIFE, IMPROVE PRODUCT QUALITY AND UNIFORMITY, REDUCE TIME FOR TOOLCHANGING, INCREASE PRODUCTION, REDUCE THERMAL DISTORTION OF PRODUCTS, FACILITATE PRECISION ENGINEERING, AND REDUCE BOTH FLUID LOSS AND OPERATOR EXPOSURE TO POTENTIALLY HAZARDOUS FUMES ASSOCIATED WITH VAPORIZING CURRENT FLUIDS DURING HIGH-SPEED MACHINING OPERATIONS.