Performance Evaluation of Jatropha and Pongamia Oil Based Environmentally Friendly Cutting Fluids for Turning AA 6061

Owing to the desirable properties of vegetable oils as cutting fluids, an attempt is made to explore the potentiality of plentifully available vegetable oils as a cutting fluid for turning AA 6061. Two nonedible vegetable oils, Jatropha and Pongamia, in their chemically modified (epoxidized) versions are used as straight cutting fluids. Cutting fluids are introduced to the machining zone with the aid of Minimal Quantity Lubrication (MQL) method. Taguchi’s technique of orthogonal arrays is used to develop an effective design of experiments. The results obtained under epoxidized versions of Jatropha and Pongamia oils are compared with the results of mineral oil in terms of cutting forces and surface roughness. Experimental observations and statistical analysis show that, compared to mineral oil, the modified versions of vegetable oil-based cutting fluids are more effective in reducing the cutting forces and increasing surface finish. It is also observed that the modified Pongamia oil showed lesser flank wear compared to the other two tested oils.