CASE STUDY Stainless Steel and Copper Machining: Increased Tool Life by 50% at Milling Operation and 100% at Turning Operation FLEXICOOL™ TECHNOLOGY - QUAKERCOOL® 7360 BFF The Challenge A machining workshop specializes in bar turning and precision machining of small to medium productions of parts on various materials including steel, titanium, aluminum, yellow metals, and plastics. The competitive product, an amine and boron-free coolant, was running at a concentration of 8% to 10% with a 2% top-up. The customer wanted to accomplish the following:
• Increased tool life • Improved surface finish
The Solution Based on regular visits and technical support together with a local distributor, Quaker Houghton was able to analyze challenges the customer faced and presented QUAKERCOOL® 7360 BFF. QUAKERCOOL® 7360 BFF at 8% concentration was introduced into two CNC machines, one machining stainless steel, and the other machining pure copper. Tool life, surface finish, and top-ups (kept at 2%) were closely monitored over a three month period. During the trial period, no operating issues were noticed and the pH stayed very stable at 9.20-9.30.
Figure 1: Shiny Stainless Steel Chips using QUAKERCOOL® 7360 BFF vs Blue Stainless Steel Chips using the competitive product
The Benefits At the completion of the trial the customer achieved the following results: On Stainless Steel (Figure 1)
• 100% increased tool life in milling operation • 50% increased tool life in turning operation • Good surface finish with Ra in spec lubrication with shiny instead of blue tinted • Better chips
On Copper (Figure 2)
• Improved outer surface finish and thread finish • No staining tool life (for 200 parts: 2 inserts, 1 drill, • Equivalent 1 tap)
©2019 Quaker Houghton. All rights reserved.
Figure 2: Copper machined with QUAKERCOOL® 7360 BFF
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Tool Life Comparison MATERIAL OPERATION
COMPETITIVE PRODUCT (PARTS/INSERT)
QUAKERCOOL® 7360 BFF (PARTS/INSERT)
TOOL LIFE RESULTS USING QUAKERCOOL® 7360 BFF
Stainless Steel 16NC6
Milling
750
1,500
100% Increase
Stainless Steel 16NC6
Turning
333
500
50% Increase
100
100
Equal
Copper Tuning, Drilling, Tapping
The Product
Process and Equipment PRODUCT TITLE
PRODUCT INFORMATION
Concentration
QUAKERCOOL® 7360 BFF 8% | Competitive Product 8% to 10%
Top up
QUAKERCOOL® 7360 BFF 2% | Competitive product 2%
Water hardness
90 ppm (9°f - 5°dH)
Machines
DOOSAN Puma 2000 SY (25 bars max), MORI SEIKI NL 2000 (30 bars max)
Filtration
No
Materials
Stainless Steel 16NC6, Copper
Operations
Turning, Milling on stainless steel, Turning, Drilling, Thread forming on copper
©2019 Quaker Houghton. All rights reserved.
QUAKERCOOL® 7360 BFF is a high performance micro-emulsion ideally suited to all operations where high surface finish quality and high lubrication is needed. QUAKERCOOL® 7360 BFF is ideal for general purpose machining of most engineering materials and is recommended for light to medium metalworking operations on cast iron, steel and aluminum.
quakerhoughton.com | info@quakerhoughton.com
V001.19.03.EN.EU