Page 41 - MetalForming Magazine May 2023

An Option: Minimum-Quantity Lubrication
Some operations take a different direction. Dry machining does away with MWFs entirely, using specially coated tools. Minimum-quantity lubrication (MQL) uses very small amounts of vegetable oil-based MWF sprayed onto the cutting area or applied as small droplets onto the tip of a tool.
Koh cautions that technological improvements are needed before MQL or dry machining can be used for more demanding applications such as stamping, deep drawing and fine blanking with stainless steel. These applications still require oil-containing MWFs, with associated procedures for fluid storage, mainte- nance and disposal. In addition, the oil film must be cleaned off of finished parts. However, Koh offers, even in conventional operations, newer tool coatings containing antiwear agents reduce the amount of MWF needed for certain applications.
The consensus among experts in the MWF industry: Tech- nology for making fully synthetic fluids for the entire range of applications does not yet exist.
“I don’t see synthetics taking the whole market, there’s just no way,” Brunker says, noting that when choosing an MWF, “it becomes a question of what works best for you and what are the applications where you want to use it.”
Not only are mineral oils needed for high-demand applica- tions, according to Crocker, but many products containing them have been around for years and users find them reliable.
Crocker’s assessment: “Mineral oil is here to stay.” MF
THREE-PART SERIES
JULY 11—Precision Stamping
THE PATH TOWARD
OIL-FREE METALWORKING FLUIDS
What is a Synthetic MWF?
MWF terminology varies among vendors and users. Here’s a guide to terminology used in this article:
• Fully synthetic fluids—water-
based fluids with no oil component
or oil-soluble additives. Additives
are dissolved in the water rather
than incorporated into oil-in-water emulsions. Fully synthetic also can refer to fluids based on synthetic compounds such as esters rather than mineral oils to dissolve water-insoluble components.
• Semisynthetics—emulsions of mineral, veg- etable or synthetic oils in water. The user mixes a concentrate with water before placing the fluid into operation.
• Soluble oils (or emulsifiable oils)—fluids con- taining mineral oil and emulsifiers, but no water. • Straight oils (or neat oils)—MWFs that use a
mineral oil and additives, with no water dilution. • Synthetic lubricants used in the automo-
tive industry—water-free fluids that contain no mineral or biobased oils, thus it’s important to specify whether a fluid is
an automotive fluid or an MWF.
Keynote presentation: Pete Ulintz, Technical Director, Precision Metalforming Association
PLUS: Expert-panel discussion describing how metal formers can leverage press-control technology, tooling best-practices, state-of-the- art metrology equipment and other techniques to add precision to their operations.
JULY 18—Automation in the Pressroom
Keynote presentation: Will Healy, General Industry Segment Leader, Universal Robots USA
PLUS: systems, robots and cobots, and more--into their facilities.
JULY 25—Fabrication for Metal Stampers
Keynote presentation plus expert-panel discussion to follow, discussing best practices metal formers can use to integrate sheet-

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