New Horizons in Minimal Quantity Lubricant Grinding

The use of MQL in grinding has emerged as an alternative to reduce the use of cutting fluids and thus achieve a cleaner production. This method of lubrication-cooling is an innovative technique in the environmental aspect, however, its application is restricted due to problems related to excessive heat generation and excessive wear of the tool. This work sought to improve the use of MQL by using a jet of compressed air to minimize the jamming of the wheel generated during the machining process. The tests were performed by external cylindrical plunge grinding using ABNT 4340 steel, quenched and tempered, as test specimen, using cubic boron nitride (CBN) grinding wheel with vitrified bond. The proposed methods of lubrication-cooling were: conventional with abundant fluid, MQL (both without the use of air jet for cleaning the grinding wheel) and MQL with cleaning, varying the incidence angle of the compressed air on the cutting surface of the grinding wheel.