Abstract
Traditional flood cooling processes can cause problems in micromachining due to the collision force between the fluid stream and the tool being greater in magnitude than the cutting forces. The traditional processes produce insufficient cooling rates and are unable to effectively evacuate chips from the cutting zone. Atomization-based cooling addresses these issues through high evaporative cooling rates, low impact forces, and the use of a high velocity air stream to clear the cutting zone of chips. This paper presents a probabilistic model to determine the thickness of a microfilm forming on a rotating cylindrical surface, such as a microturning workpiece or a microendmill, and the relative importance of system parameters on film formation. The rate of microfilm formation is dependent upon droplet losses in the tube, at the nozzle, and the scatter of the atomized spray. Droplet diameters and Weber numbers in the tube and at the cylinder were experimentally determined and modeled as lognormally distributed. Parameters investigated in this model are fluid and mist properties (surface tension and droplet size) and system parameters (delivery tube air velocity, spray air velocity, spray geometry, cylinder diameter, and cylinder rotational velocity). A maximum film thickness effect was found for the variables of delivery tube velocity, droplet diameter, and surface tension with a value for each variable that provided a thickest film. As the variables increased or decreased from that value the film thickness decreased.