Vegetable oils have been used as metalworking fluids (MWFs) for many years, particularly in small-scale metalworking operations and in industries where environmental regulations are strict. Before the development of modern MWFs, vegetable oils were one of the most common lubricants used for metalworking tools. The use of vegetable oils can be traced back to ancient civilizations such as Egypt, Greece, and Rome, where olive oil was commonly used to lubricate metal tools and weapons. Today, vegetable oils are used as MWFs in a variety of applications. They are often combined with additives or nanoparticles to enhance their performance, such as improving the lubricity, cooling properties, and stability of the oil, as well as reducing friction and wear on the cutting tool. Additives, such as antioxidants, anti-wear agents, and extreme pressure (EP) additives, can be used to improve the performance of vegetable oils as cutting fluids. Compared to standard MWFs, vegetable oils are generally more biodegradable and environmentally friendly, and can be more cost-effective. However, MWFs may offer superior performance in certain areas, such as lubrication and cooling. Ultimately, the choice of MWFs will depend on the specific requirements of the metalworking operation and the balance between performance, cost, and environmental considerations. As the demand for sustainability and environmental responsibility continues, the use of vegetable oils as MWFs is likely to become even more popular in the future. Overall, vegetable oils offer a viable and potentially attractive alternative to standard MWFs in certain applications. This review highlights both conventional and most recent advances in vegetal oils frequently used as lubricant fluids in manufacturing processes.

In this work, we carried out a comparison between the dry machining of an aluminum block with conventional cutting oil and a block with vegetable oil. The two oils had different flow rates. Using the Taguchi method, it was possible to determine the matrices for optimizing the best parameters for each group of tests. Then, we studied the utility of using vegetable oil as a cutting lubricant. We found that the vegetable oil studied in this work had good properties in terms of reducing cutting temperatures but was less effective than conventional cutting oil in reducing the surface roughness of the machined part. Tribological tests were carried out to understand the influence of the selected lubricants in reducing friction and wear. After the sliding experiments, which were performed without lubrication in the presence of the same lubricants that were used in the machining tests and in the presence of distilled water, we concluded that vegetable oil has satisfactory lubricating properties that are similar to those of the conventional cutting fluid, indicating a potential for consideration as an effective alternative to the conventional cutting fluid, with economic, environmental, and health advantages.

Over time, the industrial use of the welding process has grown in significance and is now one of the primary methods for joining metallic parts. During the welding process, metallurgical and structural modifications occur close to the welded joint. The thermal stresses and geometric distortions are undesirable, and they are a challenge to accurately forecast. Laboratory tests were conducted utilizing the GMAW method on S235JR steel as the base material with the goal of examining the impact of the welding sequence on angular distortion in butt joints when comparing three different welding sequences. Equipment that can determine coordinates in the operational space with metrological accuracy was used to measure distortions. As a result of metrological and statistical analyses, it was found that the sequence factor is shown to substantially influence the final distortions and that the symmetrical method results in less distortions followed by a one-step method.

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