Influence of cutting environments on surface integrity and power consumption of austenitic stainless steel

Surface roughness is a result of the cutting parameters such as: cutting speed, feed per tooth and the axial depth of cut, also the tool’s geometry, tool’s wear vibrations, etc. Moreover, the surface finish influences mechanical properties such as fatigue behaviour, wear, corrosion, lubrication and electrical conductivity and the combination of cutting parameters influence the power consumption during the machining process affecting the environment. The research reported herein is focused mainly on searching for an optimum combination of cutting parameters to obtain a low value of surface roughness and minimize energy consumption when milling an austenitic stainless steel in different cutting environments. The experiments were conducted on a Siemens 840D Bridgeport Vertical Machining Centre 610XP2. The selection of this workpiece material was based on it’s widely applications in cutlery, surgical instruments, industrial equipment and in the automotive and aerospace industry due to its high corrosion resistance and high strength characteristics. The results show that the dry cutting environment is the best option in terms of power consumption and surface roughness values to conduct the milling of an austenitic stainless steel under the selected cutting parameters.