Performance Assessment of Vegetable Oil-Based Cutting Fluid Developed from Palm Kernel Oil using Multi-Response Optimisation Technique

Abstract

In this work, locally sourced palm kernel oil was characterised and thereafter formulated with the aid of full factorial L₁₆2⁴ design method.  The performances of the formulated and mineral cutting fluids were evaluated by examining the material removal rate, cutting temperature and surface roughness using Grey relational analysis (GRA) and Behnken’s design (L₁₅3³) design technique. The experimental results obtained indicate that the properties of the palm kernel oil and formulated cutting fluid falls within the preferred range for vegetable-based cutting fluids as reported in literatures. The GRA results showed an optimal turning condition of depth of cut (1.5mm), feed rate (0.3mm/rev) and cutting speed (600rev/min) for palm kernel oil-based cutting fluid while depth of cut (1.5mm), feed rate (0.2mm/rev) and cutting speed (800rev/min) is the optimal condition for mineral oil-based cutting fluid. Also, the chip formation analysis revealed continuous chips which are in conformity with ISO 3685 standards.