Achieving sustainability in machining of cylindrical gears

Abstract

Increasing concerns on the environmental problems associated with the cutting fluids (CFs) used in conventional manufacturing of gears necessitated the research and development of new sustainable processes for gear manufacturing such as dry and near-dry lubrication and/or cooling as alternatives to the conventional flood lubrication (FL) techniques. Minimum quantity lubrication (MQL) based on the concept of near-dry machining has gained much wider acceptance in machining due to its effectiveness and environment-friendliness. This chapter presents the role of MQL in achieving sustainability in machining of gears along with a summary of the past research works done in this direction. It also presents an overview of the existing processes for gear manufacturing and the adverse environmental effects of CF used in gear machining processes. It discusses various environment-friendly and biodegradable lubricants to address the environmental problems caused by the conventional CF. It presents findings of a case study conducted on comparing MQL-assisted hobbing with the existing FL-assisted hobbing. The findings of the study revealed superior performance of MQL in terms of gear quality and energy consumption thus proving the effectiveness of MQL in achieving sustainability in the gear hobbing process. It is hoped that this chapter will help the researchers in understanding the current advancement in sustainable manufacturing of gears and give directions for future work on MQL and other sustainable cooling and lubrication techniques-assisted machining and finishing of gears. © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.