Machining Performance Analysis of AISI 304 Austenitic Stainless Steel

In the current experimental work an attempt has been made to analyze the machining performance of AISI 304 austenitic stainless steel with (PVD) TiAlN coated carbide tool under distinct turning environments (dry, flooded and vortex tube assisted cooling). The surface roughness of machined surface under dry, flooded and vortex tube assisted cooling condition was measured to be 0.93μm, 0.42 μm and 0.29 μm respectively. From the results, it was observed that vortex tube assisted turning offered better results in terms of surface roughness and tool flank wear than flooded and dry machining. The surface roughness of sample (AISI-304 steel) turned through vortex tube assisted cooling is reduced by 68.8% and 30.9% over dry and flooded coolant conditions respectively. In addition, the tool flank wear was lesser under vortex assisted turning than dry turning and flooded turning environment. Further, the flank tool wear were studied using SEM analysis. Overall, vortex tube assisted cooling is better option to replace turning under flooded coolant for sustainable future.