Improving Chip Curling with Reduced Amount of Cutting Fluid in Circular Sawing with Internal Coolant Supply

Circular sawing is an important intermediate step in industrial production. Due to the increasing demand for high-performance materials such as titanium alloys, efficient manufacturing for such difficult-to-machine materials is becoming more and more important. Traditionally, large quantities of cutting fluid are supplied to the sawing process by means of flood lubrication. However, the application of cutting fluids is expensive and energy-intensive. Additionally, cutting fluids pollute the environment and are harmful to health. The aim should therefore be to develop resource-saving machining processes and to reduce the need for cutting fluids in a sustainable manner. During sawing, a saw kerf is created which makes it difficult to supply the cutting process with cutting fluid. Chip formation plays an important role in the circular sawing process. This paper shows that by using a transparent kerf, the chip deformation can be studied and evaluated using a high-speed camera. By investigating the chip diameter from the camera recordings, the filling of the saw tooth gullet can be evaluated. As main result of the investigation an internal coolant supply in circular sawing can reduce the volume flow by 50% and improve the chip deformation process at the same time. This allows a sustainable and resource-efficient design of sawing processes.