Study of lubrication and wear in single point incremental sheet forming (SPIF) process using vegetable oil nanolubricants

The aim of the present study focuses on investigating the performance that sunflower and corn oils, added with 0.0125, 0.025, 0.05 and 0.1 wt% of SiO2 nanoparticles, have when these are used as lubricants during Single Point Incremental Sheet Forming (SPIF) process of 6061 aluminum sheet alloys. In an attempt to explain the differences between friction conditions, the Stribeck curve was used to address the influence that the reinforced lubricants have on the friction and roughness values attained during SPIF process of the aluminum alloy samples. To study the wear effects that the nanoparticles have on the surface samples, the Scanning Electronic Microscope (SEM), Energy-Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS) techniques were used to observe the surface morphology and chemical composition. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) technique was used to study the interaction of the SiO2 nanoparticles with vegetable oils. Experimental results showed a significant surface wear reduction when 0.025 wt% of SiO2 nanoparticles are added into the vegetable oils.