Development and Characterization of Water-Based Mono- and Hybrid Nanofluids for Machining

Nanofluids play an important role in machining processes for lubrication and cooling action. However, conventional fluids put the environment and operator health in risk due to its hazardous nature. This paper attempts to develop and characterize a novel sustainable and eco-friendly nanofluids for machining applications. In this study, deionized water-based Al₂O_3, TiO₂ and MWCNT nanoparticles dispersed nanofluids and its hybrids Al₂O₃–TiO₂ (50:50) and Al₂O₃-MWCNT (90:10) with varying concentration (0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 vol%) having sodium lauryl sulfate as surfactant were developed and characterized for rheological, thermal and wettability properties at near room temperature. The experimental results show that nanofluid’s thermophysical properties were better than the base fluid. The thermal conductivity of all the nanofluids produced in this study is more than 0.611238 W/m K which is more than the thermal conductivity for deionized water. Similarly, surface tension obtained for various nanofluids is comparatively lower than deionized water, i.e., 0.072 N/m. As the concentration of nanoparticles increases from 0.5 to 1.5 vol%, it leads to an increase in thermal conductivity, but the increase of nanoparticles concentration beyond 2% has a very minimal effect on thermal conductivity. The rate of transmittance % is as follows: 0.5 vol% > 1.0 vol% > 1.5 vol% > 2.0 vol%. It has been observed that zeta potential values are above ± 30 mV, thus indicating a stable formation of nanofluids due to non-agglomeration of nanoparticles. Hence, the following properties of nanofluids will help in high-speed machining applications.