The Selection of Copper Processing and Its Lubricating Additives
What is Metalworking Cutting Fluid?
In the surging wave of the modern manufacturing industry's vigorous development, metalworking cutting fluid is like a hidden yet shining pearl that plays an indispensable and crucial role. Briefly speaking, metalworking cutting fluid is a functional liquid applied in the process of metal cutting machining. Whether it's for manufacturing high-precision and sophisticated aircraft components in the aerospace field, producing core components like engines and body frames in the automotive manufacturing industry, or processing hardware tools in daily life, cutting fluid is always there, deeply involved in every aspect.
Its emergence stems from numerous challenges faced in metal processing. When metal materials need to be shaped and polished into various precise or practical forms, the intense friction between the cutting tool and the metal generates a large amount of heat, simultaneously causing problems such as tool wear and a decline in the surface quality of workpieces. To address these difficulties, cutting fluid came into being. It intervenes in the "interaction" between the cutting tool and the workpiece through its unique formulation and properties, coordinates the relationship between them, and ensures the smooth progress of the processing flow.
Characteristics of Metalworking Cutting Fluid
Excellent Lubricity
One of the most prominent features of cutting fluid is its excellent lubricating performance. At the moment of metal cutting, the cutting tool is like a high-speed rotating "dancer", closely in contact with the metal workpiece, and the friction coefficient rises sharply. At this time, the cutting fluid is just like an elegant "dance partner", timely intervening between the two. Relying on its lubricating components such as oil additives and extreme pressure additives, it forms a thin yet tough lubricating film on the surfaces of the cutting tool and the workpiece. This film greatly reduces the friction resistance, making the cutting action of the tool smoother. It not only effectively slows down the wear rate of the tool and extends its service life but also ensures high precision in the surface processing of the workpiece, avoiding scratches, scuffing and other flaws that affect product quality, leaving the processed metal surface flat and smooth, just like a carefully polished mirror.
Significant Cooling Efficiency
The metal processing process is like a long-term battle with the "heat devil". Especially under working conditions such as high-speed cutting and powerful grinding, heat accumulates at an astonishing speed. The cutting fluid plays the role of a "cooling hero" here. It has excellent heat conduction ability and can quickly absorb and conduct away the large amount of heat generated in the processing area, just like applying a "cooling patch" to the hot processing site. Through the circulation system, the cutting fluid continuously takes away the heat, maintaining a suitable temperature in the processing environment, preventing the cutting tool from annealing and becoming soft due to overheating and losing its cutting ability, and also avoiding problems such as deformation of the workpiece and changes in material properties caused by high temperature, thus safeguarding the stability of the processing quality.
Powerful Cleaning Function
During cutting processing, metal chips are like falling "snowflakes", continuously scattering in the processing area. If they are not cleaned up in time, these chips will accumulate in every corner of the cutting tool, workpiece and processing equipment, causing numerous problems. At this time, the cutting fluid demonstrates its powerful cleaning ability. On the one hand, it uses its good fluidity to carry the chips away from the processing site along the flow direction of the liquid; on the other hand, some cutting fluids contain chemical components such as surfactants, which can enhance the emulsifying and dispersing abilities of the chips, making them easier to be removed. In this way, the cutting tool, workpiece and processing equipment can always be kept clean, avoiding secondary processing damage, equipment jamming and other failures caused by chip residues, and ensuring the efficient and orderly progress of the processing flow.
Reliable Anti-corrosion and Anti-rust Properties
Metal workpieces are always at risk of being corroded and rusted during the processing process and the subsequent storage stage. Moisture, oxygen and other corrosive substances in the surrounding environment are always eyeing the "purity" of the metal. The cutting fluid is well aware of this hidden danger. With its components such as corrosion inhibitors and rust inhibitors, it builds a solid "protective wall" for metal workpieces. During processing, it immediately forms a protective film on the surface of the workpiece to isolate external corrosive factors; after processing is completed, this protective film continues to play its role, ensuring that the appearance of the workpiece is not stained by rust during storage or use, and the material properties remain stable, effectively extending the service life of the workpiece and enhancing the overall value of the product.
In conclusion, metalworking cutting fluid has become a crucial link in the metal processing technology chain with its excellent characteristics in lubrication, cooling, cleaning and anti-corrosion and anti-rust, providing solid and powerful support for promoting the modern manufacturing industry to move towards higher precision and higher efficiency.
Characteristics of Copper and Its Alloy Materials
Copper and its alloy materials have unique characteristics, showing relatively low strength and hardness, but extremely high plasticity and excellent ductility. Moreover, their outstanding thermal conductivity and electrical conductivity add more advantages to them, enabling them to display their capabilities in numerous fields. For example, in the automotive electronics field, they provide support for the precise electronic components of vehicles; in the aerospace field, they help aircraft cope with complex working conditions; in the smart home field, they meet the fine requirements of various smart devices; in the machine tool equipment field, they ensure the efficient operation of mechanical processing. It is no exaggeration to say that it has already become one of the most widely used metal materials in China's non-ferrous metal family.
Problems Faced in Copper Processing
When starting to process copper materials, it will be found that its excellent ductility, plasticity and toughness have the opposite effect, causing the processing difficulty to soar. In the actual processing process, the surface of the workpiece is extremely prone to scratches and bumps, and the phenomenon of plastic adhesion occurs frequently, greatly reducing the grinding accuracy. Meanwhile, the active chemical properties of copper materials also cause trouble. Workpieces often quickly turn black and change color after mechanical processing. Faced with such thorny problems, it is necessary to comprehensively consider a series of key properties such as lubrication, cooling and anti-corrosion in the process of researching and producing various cutting fluids, and none of them can be omitted.
Common Types of Cutting Fluids for Copper Processing
At present, in the field of copper material cutting processing, micro-emulsified cutting fluid and fully synthetic cutting fluid stand out and have become two commonly used cutting fluids that are favored. The micro-emulsified cutting fluid uses refined mineral oil as a solid base oil foundation and cleverly uses high-lubricity extreme pressure agents as the core lubricating components to go all out to ensure the smoothness and precision of the processing surface. The fully synthetic cutting fluid deeply understands the principle of balance. Starting from the dual needs of lubrication and cooling, it carefully selects high-molecular polyethers and polyesters as the main lubricants and skillfully combines them with high-performance copper corrosion inhibitors to successfully solve the stubborn problem of copper oxidation and discoloration when using fully synthetic cutting fluid.
Choice of Cutting Fluids for Copper Materials
High-Speed Cutting and Drilling Scenarios
In the high-speed cutting operation scenario, heat will pour out like a raging tide. At this time, if the cutting fluid cannot timely and effectively dissipate this high heat, a series of troublesome problems will fall like dominoes, such as the cutting tool being wrapped by sticky materials and built-up edges growing wantonly on the cutting tool. Such a bad situation will not only drastically shorten the service life of the cutting tool, causing the expensive cutting tool to "retire" prematurely, but also make the workpiece hard to escape the fate of wear and tear, and the painstakingly processed surface precision will disappear in an instant. Therefore, under such working conditions, the cutting fluid must have extraordinary excellent lubricating performance, and at the same time, its cooling effect must also be strong enough to reach an outstanding level.
Grinding Processing Scenarios
During the grinding operation, the generated debris is as tiny as dust and almost invisible to the naked eye, and the heat released during processing is as intense as an erupting volcano. In this situation, in addition to paying close attention to the lubricating and cooling properties of the cutting fluid, its sedimentation property cannot be ignored, and it can even be said to be a key factor that determines success or failure. Just imagine that if the debris cannot settle down along with the cutting fluid but instead adheres to the cutting tool or workpiece like "little devils", the cutting accuracy will inevitably be greatly reduced, and the originally expected smooth texture of the workpiece surface will disappear completely, turning it into a rough semi-finished product.
Turning Operation Conditions
When turning copper alloy materials, the cutting depth and feed rate are generally similar to those of ordinary steel turning. Therefore, under normal circumstances, there is no need to add additional cutting fluid. However, it is worth noting that when facing the special task of turning brass materials, using an emulsion with a concentration between 3% and 5% can just meet the processing requirements and help complete the processing task smoothly.
The Price of Additives for Cutting Fluids in Copper Processing
The price of Additives for Cutting Fluids in Copper Processing depending on factors such as brand, specification, composition, and sales channels. If you are interested in Additives for Cutting Fluids in Copper Processing, please feel free to contact us.
Supplier of Additives for Cutting Fluids in Copper Processing
UNPChemicals is a professional supplier of high-quality and effective Additives for Cutting Fluids in Copper Processing. We offer several remarkable products, namely Thiadiazole octyl mercaptan condensate DMTD-8,Thiadiazole tert-nonyl mercaptan condensate DMTD-9,Thiadiazole tert-dodecyl mercaptan condensate DMTD-12,Tolyltriazole derivatives CSUM 4200,etc.
Thiadiazole octyl mercaptan condensate DMTD-8is a liquid ash-free metal deactivator, which has extreme pressure and auxiliary antioxidant effects, and is widely used in various automotive and industrial lubricating oils and metal working fluids. At very low concentrations, it can effectively prevent the corrosion of active sulfur on copper and copper alloys, and its unique composition can also inhibit the corrosion of hydrogen sulfide.
Thiadiazole tert-nonyl mercaptan condensate, commercially known as DMTD-9, is an organosulfur compound carrying the CAS number 91648-65-6. As a lubricant, fuel or metalworking fluid additive, it demonstrates several key features that make it valuable in a variety of industrial and automotive applications.
Thiadiazole tert-dodecyl mercaptan condensate DMTD-12 is a valuable lubricant additive, known for its ashless, extreme pressure, and oxidation resistance properties. Its ability to act as a metal deactivator makes it an effective choice for preventing corrosion and enhancing the performance and protection offered by automotive and industrial lubricants and metalworking fluids.
Tolyltriazole derivatives (TTA) CSUM 4200is a methyl benzotriazole derivative that is soluble in water and ethylene glycol systems. It is a water-soluble copper corrosion inhibitor. It is designed to function as a metal deactivator and provides an effective alternative to solid benzotriazole and methyl benzotriazole.
Conclusion
This article mainly focuses on copper processing and metalworking cutting fluid. It first elaborates on the characteristics of copper and its alloys, the difficulties in copper processing, and common types of cutting fluids for copper processing as well as how to choose cutting fluids under different copper processing scenarios like high-speed cutting, grinding, and turning. Then it comprehensively introduces what metalworking cutting fluid is, its origin due to challenges in metal processing, and its outstanding features including excellent lubricity, significant cooling efficiency, powerful cleaning function and reliable anti-corrosion and anti-rust properties, highlighting its crucial role in modern manufacturing.
UNPChemicals supplies various lubricating oil additives such as friction modifiers, metal deactivators, additives for cutting fluids,extreme pressure anti-wear agents and metal processing additives. If you're interested, please contact us.