Optimisation on the Performance of Bubble-Bursting Atomisation for Minimum Quantity Lubrication with Vegetable Oil...

Area of Science:

• Manufacturing Engineering
• Sustainable Technologies
• Fluid Dynamics

Background:

• Green machining and sustainable manufacturing are increasingly important in industry.
• Minimum Quantity Lubrication (MQL) is an emerging sustainable machining technology.
• Effective lubricant atomisation is crucial for MQL performance.

Purpose of the Study:

• To optimize the bubble-bursting atomisation system for MQL machining.
• To investigate the impact of air inlet velocity and gap distance on atomisation.
• To enhance the delivery of vegetable oil droplets in MQL.

Main Methods:

• Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations were used to study the atomisation system.
• Vegetable oil was selected as the environmentally friendly lubricant.
• Parameters optimized included air inlet velocity and the gap between bubble production inlets.

Main Results:

• Optimal air velocities were identified: 0.1 m/s for bubble production and 10 m/s for droplet guidance.
• A 50 mm gap distance between air inlets prevented bubble coalescence.
• These conditions yielded optimal bubble sizes (2-3 mm) with a high probability of nano-sized droplets.

Conclusions:

• The optimized bubble-bursting system generates a higher rate of smaller vegetable oil droplets.
• Improved droplet delivery to the machining zone enhances MQL performance.
• This research contributes to more sustainable and efficient manufacturing processes.