In the production of metal products in an industrial way, various types of machine tools are used. At the same time, there are two main types of impact on a metal workpiece - cutting and extrusion. In both cases, during the production process, the metal raw material comes into direct contact with the working units of the device and has a significant mechanical effect on them. In addition, significant temperature loads arise in the area of contact between the workpiece and the cutter. Depending on the physical characteristics of the metal being processed, this may result in premature wear of equipment parts and impairment of the safety of the technological process.
A measure of combating these undesirable phenomena is the use of various liquid compositions, most often based on oils of various origins, which are fed into the cutting zone and act as a kind of intermediary between the working head and the material being processed. This makes the process more gentle on both workpieces and equipment components. Cutting fluids also effectively remove processing by-products such as dust or shavings and prevent them from entering the environment.
There are two main types of process fluids used in metal processing. These can be oil-based formulations and oil-in-water emulsion formulations. The first type of coolant is chosen if the process requires significant mechanical stress; liquids of the second type are used when processing at high speeds. The technology of manufacturing products from plastic blanks and cermet raw materials often also requires the use of various cutting fluids.
