Performance evaluation of vegetable-based lubricants in metal cutting

Over the lastdecades, mineral oil-based fluids are used in metal cutting operations. The hazardous impacts of mineral based oil on the environment are compelling industries to search for alternative oil. Recently, vegetable based oils have found significant attention from industrialists due to its environment-friendly and biodegradable characteristics. In this paper, five vegetable-based oils are being evaluated as a possible replacement for non-biodegradable mineral oils. Further, an attempt was made to predict the effect of vegetable oils (mustard, palmolien, Sesame, groundnut, rice bran) on wear performance in metal cutting operation employed with four-ball tester equipment.The experimental result shows the wear properties of biodegradable oil samples derived from vegetable oils. As a part of this research work the anti-wear performance of the selected vegetable oils is evaluated according to the standard procedure to understand their wear performance. Among all the vegetable oils studied, mustard oil shows better lubrication behavior.