In the rail industry, there are four types of steel grades used for monoblock wheels, namely ER6, ER7, ER8 and ER9. ER7 steel is manufactured in accordance with the EN13262 standard and is utilized in European railway lines. These train wheels are formed by pressing and rolling after which they are machined using turning process to achieve their final dimensions. However, machining ER7 steels can be challenging due to their high mechanical properties, which can facilitate rapid tool wear and thermal cracking. Therefore, while the use of coolants is critical to improving their machinability, using conventional flood coolants adds extra operational costs, energy and waste. An alternative is to use minimum quantity lubrication (MQL) cooling technology, which applies small amounts of coolant mixed with air to the cutting zone, leaving a near-dry machined surface. In the current study, preliminary tests were undertaken under dry conditions and using coated carbide inserts to determine the optimal cutting parameters for machining ER7 steel. The impact of the cutting speed and feed rate on surface roughness (Ra), energy consumption and cutting temperature were investigated and used as a benchmark to determine the optimal cutting parameters. Next, additional machining tests were conducted using MQL and nano-MQL cooling technologies to determine their impact on the aforementioned machining outputs. According to preliminary tests, and within the tested range of the cutting parameters, using a cutting speed of 300 m/min and a feed rate of 0.15 mm/rev resulted in minimal surface roughness. As a result, using these optimal cutting parameters with MQL and Nano-MQL (NMQL) cooling technologies, the surface roughness was further reduced by 24% and 34%, respectively, in comparison to dry conditions. Additionally, tool wear was reduced by 34.1% and 37.6%, respectively. The overall results from this study demonstrated the feasibility of using MQL coolants as a sustainable machining alternative for steel parts for rail wheel applications. In addition, the current study highlight the enhanced performance of MQL cooling technology with the addition of nano additives.

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Purpose The main purpose of this work is to explore the erosion wear characteristics of additively manufactured aluminium alloy. Additive manufacturing (AM), also known as three-dimensional (3D) manufacturing, is the process of manufacturing a part designed in a computer environment using different types of materials such as plastic, ceramic, metal or composite. Similar to other materials, aluminum alloys are also exposed to various wear types during operation. Production efficiency needs to be aware of its reactions to wearing mechanisms. Design/methodology/approach In this study, quartz sands (SiO2) assisted with oxide ceramics were used in the slurry erosion test setup and its abrasiveness on the AlSi10Mg aluminum alloy material produced by the 3D printer as selective laser melting (SLM) technology was investigated. Quartz was sieved with an average particle size of 302.5 µm, and a slurry environment containing 5, 10 and 15% quartz by weight was prepared. The experiments were carried out at the velocity of 1.88 (250 rpm), 3.76 (500 rpm) and 5.64 m/s (750 rpm) and the impact angles 15, 45 and 75°. Findings With these experimental studies, it has been determined that the abrasiveness of quartz sand prepared in certain particle sizes is directly related to the particle concentration and particle speed, and that the wear increases with the increase of the concentration and rotational speed. Also, the variation of weight loss and surface roughness of the alloy was investigated after different wear conditions. Surface roughness values at 750 rpm speed, 10% concentration and 75° impingement angle are 0.32 and 0.38 µm for 0 and 90° samples, respectively, with a difference of approximately 18%. Moreover, concerning a sample produced at 0°, the weight loss at 250 rpm at 10% concentration and 45° particle impact angle is 32.8 mg, while the weight loss at 500 rpm 44.4 mg, and weight loss at 750 rpm is 104 mg. Besides, the morphological structures of eroded surfaces were examined using the scanning electron microscope to understand the wear mechanisms. Originality/value The researchers verified that this specific coating condition increases the slurry wear resistance of the mentioned steel. There are many studies about slurry wear tests; however, there is no study in the literature about the quartz sand (SiO2) assisted slurry-erosive wear of AlSi10Mg alloy produced with AM by using SLM technology. This study is needed to fill this gap in the literature and to examine the erosive wear capability of this current material in different environments. The novelty of the study is the use of SiO2 quartz sands assisted by oxide ceramics in different concentrations for the slurry erosion test setup and the investigations on erosive wear resistance of AlSi10Mg alloy manufactured by AM.