Energy assessment of different cooling technologies in Ti-6Al-4V milling

Manufacturing craves for more sustainable solutions for machining heat-resistant alloys. In this paper, an assessment of different cooling lubrication approaches for Ti6Al4V milling was carried out. Cryogenic cutting (liquid nitrogen) and conventional cooling (oil-based fluid) were assessed with respect to dry cutting. To study the effects of the main relevant process parameters, proper energy models were developed, validated and then used for comparing the analysed cooling lubrication strategies. The model parameters were identified exploiting data from specifically conceived experiments. The power assessment was carried out considering different perspectives, with a bottom-up approach. Indeed, it was found that cryogenic cooling, thanks to a better tribological behaviour, is less energy demanding (at least 25%) than dry and conventional cutting. If the spindle power is considered, lower saving percentages can be expected. Cryogenic cooling showed its best energy performance (from 3 to 11 times) with respect to conventional cutting if the machine tool perspective is analysed. Considering even the primary energy required for producing the cutting fluids, the assessment showed that cryogenic cooling requires up to 19 times the energy required for conventional cutting.