Fluid Handling Coolant

The cooling lubricant fulfils many functions in a machine tool. Today, there is no doubt that to keep the performance of a machine tool high and stable, just as much attention must be paid to the condition of the cooling lubricant.

Functions of the cooling lubricant

The cooling lubricant involved in machining performs four main functions:

• Lubrication: reduces friction between workpiece and tool, improving the surface finish of the workpiece and reducing tool wear while maintaining high cutting parameter values.
• Cooling: contains the temperature increase generated in the cutting zone between the workpiece and the tool, thus reducing relative deformations and maintaining machining precision over time.
• Washing: cleaning of all equipment in the machining area of the machine tool. This function becomes strategic to keep the machine tool or machining line in an unmanned operating condition.
• Swarf removal: evacuation of the swarf produced by the machining area of the machine tool, to the swarf discharge area in the conveyor. This function becomes strategic when the conformation of the conveyor casing inside the machine tool has large, complex surfaces on which swarf can accumulate.

Preservation and stability of coolant characteristics

Due to the complexity of the chemical-physical properties and the multiple functions of a cooling lubricant, it must be constantly treated by specific methods to maintain its good condition, such as :

• Pre-filtration
• Filtration
• Thermal control
• De-oiling
• Chemical-physical analysis 

Since its early years, Tecnoforme has focused on the development of filtering technologies with the aim of subdividing and intensifying the efficiency of these processes into several steps, so as to achieve different levels of filtration in favour of different processing requirements, thereby optimising the individual filtering stages.

In a global perspective increasingly oriented towards environmentally sustainable issues, it is necessary to optimise each individual production process in the best possible way, minimising the waste of substances while maintaining high process efficiencies. With this in mind, Tecnoforme has invested its resources in developing filter technologies that meet these requirements, and has also developed several patented solutions converging towards recirculation and regeneration of the process fluid used.

Application specifications for choosing the correct filtration process:

• type and flow rate of chips resulting from machining;
• layout and overall dimensions;
• type and flow rate of the coolant;
• working temperature and pressure; 
• application costs;
• The possibility of integrating the filtration system into the conveyor, based on the maintenance expectations of the end customer, with respect to all the equipment downstream of the conveyor (tanks; pumps; filters; etc.).

The choice of the filtering system cannot be made in isolation from the overall design of the chip evacuation and coolant treatment system placed on board the machine tool and also requires a broad knowledge of the many factors that contribute to ensuring the efficiency over time of the machine tool system itself.