SEPTEMBER 2008 / VOLUME 60 / ISSUE 9 Fluids can be engineered for workpiece materials common to a particular industry. Valenite is the final stages of testing one such fluid for the aerospace industry. Valenite By Joseph L. Hazelton, Cutting Down Contributing Editor on Cutting Fluids? While using a single cutting fluid to machine and grind all workpiece materials may not be economically feasible, many machine shops can reduce their number of metalworking fluids. Machine shops in all industries dream ing on their mix of workpiece materials Lee Hitchcock, ITW Rocol’s R&D of using a single cutting fluid that’s effec- and metalworking processes. chemist. Overcoming those challenges tive for machining all types of workpiece has been especially important in recent materials, in all types of metalworking. A Fluid for All Grades years, as more automotive and airplane Eliminating the need to continually swap Certainly, when it comes to machining manufacturers convert to lightweight out fluids from job to job would un- a specific material it is possible to devise aluminum to improve their products’ doubtedly be a welcome timesaver. a metalworking fluid that can be ap- fuel efficiency. While it may be possible to develop plied to every grade. For instance, ITW Prime among the features of the Rus- such a universal metalworking fluid, its ROCOL North America, Glenview, tlick fluid is that it doesn’t stain alumi- cost—to ensure that it had the requisite Ill., offers such a fluid for aluminum, num, which is especially important for properties for such wide applications— Rustlick Ultracut AL. parts used in the aerospace and nuclear would surely be prohibitive. “Aluminum, with all of its alloys industries. Staining is a form of corrosion Yet it is possible for shops to reduce [ranging from gummy to hard] presents that can occur when a fluid’s pH level is their number of needed fluids, depend- many different types of challenges,” said too high for the aluminum alloy being Cutting Down on Cutting Fluids (continued) while the majority of parts machined at aerospace shops are aluminum, use machined. (The pH scale ranges from 0 A Fluid for an Industry of titanium is growing. For instance, he to 14, with 7 as the neutral point. A fluid It’s also possible to make a metalwork- continued, in the Boeing 777, titanium has a high pH level when it reaches 10, ing fluid that can be universally applied parts constitute 7 percent to 10 percent according to Hitchcock.) to the workpiece materials common to a of the airplane’s weight, more than any Staining can be avoided, Hitchcock particular industry. Tool and fluid maker of Boeing’s previous commercial planes. said, by lowering the fluid’s pH via re- Valenite LLC, Madison Heights, Mich., The new Boeing 787 will be about 14 moval of its high-pH amines or by add- is in the final stages of field-testing a new percent titanium by weight. ing corrosion inhibitors. The ITW fluid semisynthetic cutting fluid for the aero- To meet the industry’s varying fluid for aluminum includes nonstaining space industry, Aerotech VP, which it ex- needs, Valenite devised a fluid suitable amines and corrosion inhibitors. pects to market this fall. for machining titanium and then engi- neered the semisynthetic for aluminum and high-temperature alloys. Goedtel, however, described titanium as the most difficult to machine of the aerospace materials. Among the materi- al’s challenges are that it’s gummy and a poor heat conductor. Titanium also has a narrow window of speeds and feeds for its machining, around 75 to 100 sfm and 0.006 to 0.008 ipr, respectively. Moreover, add certain alloying ele- ments and machining titanium becomes even more difficult to machine. Such is the case with Ti-5553. “It contains an additional 3 percent chromium, which adds some abrasiveness to what’s typi- cally a springy, gummy kind of material to machine,” Goedtel said. Much of the heat generated at the tool/titanium interface is absorbed by the Valenite tool’s cutting edge. But water’s presence Creating a more universal metalworking fluid requires additional ingredients, such as in a metalworking fluid solves that prob- additives, to cover the lubrication, cooling, anticorrosion and other properties needed by a lem, ensuring that the fluid absorbs and wider range of workpiece materials. removes heat from the interface. “Water’s To cover the various aluminum grades, The impetus for Valenite’s efforts got a higher specific heat,” Goedtel said, ITW ROCOL incorporated into a water- stems from the aerospace industry’s grow- “so it can absorb and release heat more soluble fluid an ester-type lubricant that ing demand for titanium and, in turn, for quickly than oil can.” it knew had considerable lubricity be- a fluid to effectively machine titanium al- Consequently, many parts manufac- cause the company had used it in its loys such as Ti6A14V and Ti-5553. turers may opt for synthetic metalwork- stamping and minimum-quantity lubri- According to Mark Goedtel, Valen- ing fluids when machining titanium. cation (MQL) processes. ite’s product manager-ValCool fluids, Valenite, however, decided to include a high percentage of oil, 60 percent to 70 cific work material or cutting operation. absolute best for every type of metal and percent, in its new Aerotech VP semi- Yes, there are shops that want to use one every type of operation. There is always synthetic fluid. fluid across the entire operation, but for a little performance trade-off depending Valenite’s strategy is simple: Create a most manufacturers the cost of produc- on the variation in metals used,” he said. fluid with sufficient lubricity to reduce ing a part can be directly affected by the As an example, he cited machining car- friction (thus, heat), yet one that also type of lubricant they use, and they are bide or magnesium, which require spe- contains water to quickly remove what willing to use different fluids to improve cialized fluids that may not be the best heat is generated. “Our goal is to pre- quality on specific parts.” fluids for use with other metals. vent [overheating] from occurring and to According to Tucker, using a multi- Fluid choice, in part, depends on dissipate it as quickly as we can,” Goed- metal, multioperation fluid can produce the size of the shop, according to Greg tel said. The oil’s greater control of heat a part cost or quality trade-off for parts Foltz, Milacron’s technical director for has the accompanying effect of extend- that don’t exactly match the fluid. “There metalworking fluids. “A smaller opera- ing tool life. is no fluid in existence today that is the tion with 10 to 30 machine tools may “Heat will cause chipping and crack- ing,” Goedtel added. Such damage shortens tool life, but it also can lead to catastrophic tool failure and scrap. Valenite’s in-house tests indicated the fluid’s potential for lengthening tool life. The Aerotech VP semisynthetic was ap- plied to machining of Ti6Al4V and Ti-5553. Valenite saw life for index- able-insert mills and drills increase by as much as 300 percent. Valenite also ap- plied the fluid to the machining of 4140 steel, and tool life increased by as much as 50 percent. Of course, longer tool life means fewer tool changes and therefore less down- time, which boosts productivity. Also, depending on its workpiece ma- terials, an aerospace shop may be able to use the Valenite fluid in all of its cutting machines—including milling, drilling, turning and grinding. While the Aero- tech VP fluid performs well in these ap- plications, some shops may want to use a full synthetic for grinding operations, according to Goedtel. He added that the new, versatile fluid contains more than a dozen different ad- ditives, a high number when compared with the four or five additives in one of Valenite’s standard semisynthetics. Reverse Trend? While some in the industry have seen a trend toward the use of fewer individual metalworking fluids, Milacron Market- ing Co., Cincinnati, marketer of Cim- cool fluids, has a different take. “To be honest, I would almost say it’s the exact opposite,” said Kevin Tucker, product and marketing manager for metalwork- ing fluids. “Many machine shops and large parts manufacturers are looking for customized fluids that can help impart the best-quality finish on a part for a spe- Cutting Down on Cutting Fluids (continued) want to standardize on one fluid,” he multifunctional applications. “For exam- said. “If you’re running aluminum one ple, a synthetic product, Cimtech 310, day and steel the next, you probably want was designed for aerospace aluminum, something you can use across the board.” but has wide applicability in cast iron However, a much larger plant with mul- and steel as well,” said Tucker. tiple, segregated operations machining Other metalworking fluids are more many different types of materials and narrowly targeted, yet still multifunc- workpieces typically uses custom met- tional. For example, Milacron’s Cimtech alworking fluids specific to each type of 610 is for difficult-to-machine metals job. “If you’re grinding bearing steel all such as stainless steel, titanium and be- day, you will likely use a fluid designed ryllium-copper. One version is for met- just for that operation.” alcutting and one is for grinding. For shops that are looking to reduce “It may not be applicable for general the number of metalworking fluids they purpose machining, but Cimtech 610 is use, Milacron recommends selecting a appropriate for manufacturing a family fluid based on the shop’s most prevalent of products such as medical appliances Valenite operation or the operation that presents and medical parts,” many of which are The trade-off between less oil and more the highest degree of difficulty, while cau- made from titanium and stainless steel, water in a metalworking fluid is losing some of oil’s lubricity in order to reduce fluid cost.