Materials and Manufacturing Processes

ISSN: 1042-6914 (Print) 1532-2475 (Online) Journal homepage: www.tandfonline.com/journals/lmmp20

Machinability studies on 17-4 PH stainless steel

under cryogenic cooling environment

P. Sivaiah & D. Chakradhar

To cite this article: P. Sivaiah & D. Chakradhar (2017) Machinability studies on 17-4 PH stainless
steel under cryogenic cooling environment, Materials and Manufacturing Processes, 32:15,
1775-1788, DOI: 10.1080/10426914.2017.1339317

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/10426914.2017.1339317

Published online: 11 Jul 2017.

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MATERIALS AND MANUFACTURING PROCESSES
2017, VOL. 32, NO. 15, 1775–1788
https://doi.org/10.1080/10426914.2017.1339317

none defined

Machinability studies on 17-4 PH stainless steel under cryogenic cooling

environment
P. Sivaiah and D. Chakradhar
Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Mangalore, Karnataka, India

ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY

Under higher cutting conditions, machining of 17-4 precipitation hardenable stainless steel (PH SS) is a Received 8 February 2017
difficult task due to the high cutting temperatures as well as accumulation of chips at the machining Accepted 17 May 2017
zone, which causes tool damage and impairment of machined surface finish. Cryogenic machining is an KEYWORDS
efficient, eco-friendly manufacturing process. In the current work, cutting temperature, tool wear (flank Chip; cryogenic; integrity;
wear (Vb) and rake wear), chip morphology, and surface integrity (surface topography, surface finish (Ra), machining; manufacturing;
white layer thickness (WLT)) were considered as investigative machinability characteristics under the morphology; MQL; surface;
cryogenic (liquid nitrogen), minimum quantity lubrication (MQL), wet and dry environments at varying sustainable; wear
cutting velocities while machining 17-4 PH SS. The results show that the maximum cutting temperature
drop found in cryogenic machining was 72%, 62%, and 61%, respectively, in contrast to dry, wet, and
MQL machining conditions. Similarly, the maximum tool wear reduction was found to be 60%, 55%, and
50% in cryogenic machining over the dry, wet, and MQL machining conditions, respectively. Among all
the machining environments, better surface integrity was obtained by cryogenic machining, which could
produce the functionally superior products.

Introduction management system is one of the major strategic challenges.

For these reasons, many industries are looking for alternative
17-4 PH SS is treated as difficult to cut material due to its
cooling techniques which can avoid the low productivity,
gratifying characteristics of having high strength, high tem-
health, and environmental damage problems, respectively.
perature resistance, good ductility, and excellent corrosion
Hence, the present work focused on the study of the
resistance [1]. Therefore, this material is a choice for many
feasibility of different environmental clean machining pro-
key fields like nuclear reactor, marine construction, and
cesses like cryogenic, MQL, and dry machining in turning of
aerospace industries [2]. It is indispensable to utilize cutting
17-4 PH SS. Cryogenic machining is an emerging manufactur-
coolants to overcome the high cutting temperatures. Metal
ing technique. Recently, many researchers have used LN2 as a
cutting industries are more dependent on conventional cutting
coolant for different manufacturing processes and favorable
fluids to overcome the machining zone temperatures for
performance results were obtained. Kaynak et al. [10] have
cutting such low thermal conductivity materials. Nevertheless,
studied Ra and Vb in a cryogenic environment of shape
utilization of conventional cutting fluids has shown adverse
memory alloy and better performance characteristics were
effects on prospectives like machining cost, health, and
found compared to dry and MQL environments. Similarly,
environmental hazards [3]. It has been reported that
in other research work, Kaynak et al. [11] have conducted
approximately one million workers are exposed to conven-
the experiments on the same material under the dry and
tional coolants in U.S [3, 4]. It is expected that the annual
cryogenic environments at varying cutting speeds and investi-
usage of metal working fluids across the world is a grand total
gated the different surface integrity characteristics. They have
of 640 million gallons [5]. During machining of low thermal
observed the positive subsurface alteration in cryogenic
conductivity materials, cutting coolants allied cost share range
machining over dry machining due to the significant reduc-
in the total manufacturing cost was assessed as 20–30% [6].
tions in the machining zone temperatures. Bordin et al. [12]
The usage of cutting fluids additionally includes the mainte-
have investigated the Vb, Ra, and chip morphology while
nance and disposal cost and it can be up to 2 to 4 times of
machining of additive manufactured Ti-6Al-4 V alloy under
their purchase price [4]. Many researchers have discussed
the cryogenic, wet, and dry machining conditions. It has been
the different environmental conscious regulations which were
found that the advantage results were obtained in cryogenic
introduced by the various countries across the world [7–9].
machining as a function of tool wear and chip morphology
These conscious regulations encourage the limited usage and
at all the machining parameters over the wet and dry environ-
dumping of conventional coolants due to the presence of
ments. However, in cryogenic machining, reduced surface
chemical contaminants. Nowadays, for metal cutting indus-
roughness was obtained merely under the higher cutting
tries, the coupling of these environmental regulations into a

CONTACT P. Sivaiah sivaiah.337@gmail.com Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Karnataka 575025, India.
Color versions of one or more of the figures in this article can be found online at www.tandfonline.com/lmmp.
© 2017 Taylor & Francis
1776 P. SIVAIAH AND D. CHAKRADHAR
conditions compared to dry and wet environments. Sartori
et al. [13] have worked on two different microstructure variant
Ti-6Al-4 V alloys produced by the two different additive
manufacturing methods under the dry and cryogenic
conditions. They have claimed that cryogenic machining
significantly controlled the adhesion wear due to lower
temperatures provided by the LN2 compared to the dry
environment. Bruschi et al. [14] have investigated the turning
performance characteristics as a function of a coefficient of
friction, Vb, Ra, microhardness, and residual stresses under
the cryogenic, dry machining environments during machining
of additive manufactured Ti-6Al-4V alloy. They have observed
significant improvements in results except for surface rough-
ness under the cryogenic machining. Pereira et al. [15] have
investigated the various kinds and combinations of environ-
mental friendly machining processes in machining of AISI
304 material. It was claimed that dry machining is not a suit-
able solution due to a high tool wear rate, but the combination
of the cryo-MQL technique has improved the machining per-
formance greatly compared to stand alone MQL, dry, and
cryogenic machining conditions. Chetan et al. [16] have inves-
tigated the effect of various sustainable cooling environments
namely cryogenic, MQL and dry on turning performance
particularly as a function of chip thickness, Vb, Ra, chip con-
tact length, and chip morphology in turning of Nimonic 90
alloy. It has been observed that both cryogenic and MQL
machining environments gave superior performance even at
higher cutting velocities. However, many researchers have
conducted the machinability studies and observed better
results in drilling [17], reaming [18], grinding [19], milling
[20], AJM [21], EDM [22], and micro-EDM drilling [23]
under the cryogenic environments on various kinds of difficult
to cut materials. The literature survey shows that limited
researchers have compared the machinability performance
characteristics under the cryogenic, MQL, wet, and dry envir-
onments and also inadequate literature is available on surface
integrity studies under these environments. The surface top-
ography needs to be established under the different machining
environments because it is contributing to modification in the
subsurface characterizations. In the current study, an attempt
has been made on surface topography also.
From the literature, it was observed that many researchers
have worked with various kinds of hard to cut materials like
smart materials, super alloys and steels by using LN2 as a
coolant. 17-4 PH SS have many key applications; therefore,
Figure 1. Microstructure and major elemental analysis of 17-4 PH SS workpiece material.
critical research has to be carried out on the surface integrity
characteristics to improve the product life of the 17-4 PH
SS. From the literature, no effort has been made to compare
the effect of cutting conditions on turning performance
characteristics in machining of 17-4 PH SS under the MQL,
wet, dry and external jet cryogenic cooling environments.
Therefore, the current work target is to explore the effect of
external LN2 jet cooling on cutting temperature, tool wear,
surface integrity (WLT, surface topography and surface
roughness), and chip morphology during machining of 17-4
PH SS and comparison of these findings with MQL, wet,
and dry machining conditions, respectively.
Materials and Methods
Turning experiments were performed on 17-4 PH SS round
bars by using ‘KIRLOSKAR’ make lathe machine. Major
chemical composition and microstructure of 17-4 PH SS is
depicted in Fig. 1. To avoid the overhanging of workpiece
between the head and tail stocks, facing operation and centre
drills have been done at the both ends of the received work-
piece sample. Also, 1 mm top layer has been removed on the
each received workpiece sample to eliminate the consequences
of surface cracks as well as wobbling. In the present work,
experiments have been performed under the cryogenic,
MQL, wet and dry machining environments by keeping the
feed rate, depth of cut as constant process parameters and
cutting velocity as a variant. Table 1 shows the experimental
details considered in the present investigation. The range of
cutting velocity has been selected based on the pilot experi-
ments. The cutting tool selection is based on the manufacturer
recommendation and each experiment was conducted with a
fresh cutting edge.
In the current work, for cryogenic machining, a low cost
external cryogenic jet cooling setup has been developed to
spray the LN2 between the tool-workpiece interfaces as
shown in Fig. 2. In this setup, LN2(at 196°C) is stored in
an ‘IOCL’ make ‘TA-55’ cryocan, stored LN2 was
pressurized with a compressed air to obtain the jet of LN2
through the specially designed nozzle. ‘Dropco’ air oil mist
lubricator of a model – ‘DAOML-2/PS/FS/1’ MQL
machining setup has been used to supply the coolant air
mist at the machining zone as shown in Fig. 3. The images
of machining zones at the different environments are
depicted in Fig. 4.

Table 1. Experimental conditions.
Workpiece material and dimensions
Workpiece chemical composition
Cutting inserts
Tool holder
Working insert tool geometry
Turning Process parameters
Environments and coolants used
Cutting fluid supply
Nozzle diameters used to spray
coolant for different environments
Figure 2. Cryogenic machining experimental setup.
Figure 3. MQL machining experimental setup.
Figure 4. Machining zone at different environments (a) cryogenic, (b) MQL, (c)
wet, and (d) dry.
MATERIALS AND MANUFACTURING PROCESSES 1777
17-4 PH SS round bar, (ø 35 mm x 300 mm)
(Ni-3.546%, Cr-16.179%, Cu-3.177%, Mn-0.744%, Si-0.360%, C-0.042%, P-0.028%, S-0.011%, NbþTa-0.356%
and Fe-Balance)
AlTiN PVD coated KC5010 tungsten coated carbide inserts (An ISO designation of SNMG120408 MP), Kennametal made
ISO specification of PSBNR 2020 K12
Inclination angle: - 6°, rake angle: - 6°, clearance angle: 6°, Nose radius: 0.8 mm, major cutting edge angle: 75°
Cutting velocity (v): 25, 35, 55, 85, 132 m/min Feed rate (f): 0.143 mm/rev Depth of cut (d): 1 mm
Cryogenic cooling (LN2), Dry (no coolant), MQL and Wet (castrol-cooledge SL oil) emulsion based flood coolant at
1:20 soluble oil),
Cryogenic cooling - compressed air: 4 kg/cm2, flow rate: 0.45 kg/min (through external nozzle);
MQL cooling - compressed air: 4 kg/cm2, flow rate: 70 ml/h (through external nozzle);
wet cooling - flow rate: 6 l/min (through external nozzle)
cryogenics and MQL – ø 1 mm, Wet – ø 10 mm
In the present investigation, average surface roughness (Ra)
was considered as surface roughness parameters under all
machining environments and ‘Mutatoyo SJ301’ surface tester
has been used to measure it. Five measurements were taken
for Ra of the each machined sample with a cut off length
(kc) of 4 mm and averages were taken as actual values. Tool
wear was observed for a constant machining time of 4 minutes
under all machining environments. Tool wear measurement
and chip morphology analysis were done by using ‘Zeiss’
optical microscope of model ‘AXIOLAB A1’. ‘Fanuc pobocut
α-OiB’ model wire electric discharge machining machine has
been used to the cut the machined samples into semi
circular shape for surface integrity characterization. ‘Zeiss’
Scanning electron microscope and ‘Oxford’ make ‘X-ACT’
type Energy Dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDAX) have been
used for evaluation of microstructure, white layer analysis and
elemental composition of machined samples. Machined
samples were mirror polished with help of emery papers of
1778 P. SIVAIAH AND D. CHAKRADHAR
different grades, diamond powder paste and ferric chloride
(10 g FeCl3 þ 30 ml HCl þ120 ml H2O) etchant was used for
revealing the microstructure of 17-4 PH SS. Analysis of surface
defect as well as tool wear was carried out by using ‘JEOJSM-
638OLA’ Scanning electron microscope (SEM). At all the
machining environments, 3D surface topography images were
obtained by using ‘LESTOLS4100’ type confocal laser 3D
surface tester. The temperature at the machining zone was
measured by using a calibrated infrared thermometer of model
‘Center 350’. During temperature measurement, chips at the
machining zone as well as coolants were interrupted the laser
beam of the thermometer before reaching the machining zone,
so the temperature measurements may not represent the actual
values. But, these values were considered for the comparison
of different environmental conditions only.
Results and Discussion
Figure 5 represents the cutting temperatures obtained at the
machining zone under the varying cutting velocity conditions
under the different cooling environments. From Fig. 5, it was
pragmatic that as cutting velocity increases the temperature at
the machining zone increases in all environments. This might
be due to the development of more friction between the tool
and workpiece which causes more heat generation resulting
in increased cutting temperature. Among all the cooling envir-
onments, cryogenic machining conditions reduced the cutting
temperatures significantly as shown in Fig. 5. It can be seen
from Fig. 5 that at a low cutting velocity of 25 m/min, the
obtained machining zone temperature in cryogenic, MQL,
wet and dry machining was 25°C, 64°C, 65°C, and 79°C,
respectively. Under these conditions, the temperature
reduction found in cryogenic machining was 68%, 62%, and
61%, respectively, over dry, wet and MQL machining con-
ditions. Similarly, at a higher cutting velocity of 132 m/min,
the respective cutting temperature reductions found in
cryogenic machining was 72%, 50%, and 49% compared to
dry, wet and MQL machining. From Fig. 5, it can be observed
that the cutting temperature in dry machining increases
sharply with the rise in cutting velocity due to rise in the
Figure 5. Effect of cutting velocity on cutting temperature under different
cutting environments.
friction between the contact asperities. Whereas in both wet
and MQL machining, almost similar results were found, this
might be due to the low friction which is a result from the both
coolants lubrication effects during machining. The reason for
temperature reduction in cryogenic machining was due to the
spraying of LN2 at the machining zone causes substantial
reduction of machining zone temperatures, this indicates that
generation of low friction between the tool and workpiece. In
overall, the respective temperature reduction range found in
cryogenic machining over the dry, wet and MQL machining
was 63–72%, 50–62%, and 49–61%, respectively, while the rise
of cutting velocity from 25 m/min to 132 m/min.
While machining, tool wear has a significant influence on
surface integrity, manufacturing cost and power consumption.
Especially, rapid tool flank wear provokes poor surface integ-
rity characteristics in machining. In the current study, tool
flank wear was measured at varying cutting velocities and
increasing trend was observed for the flank wear as shown
in Fig. 6. This is because of higher cutting temperatures
developed at a higher cutting velocities causes more tool flank
wear. From Fig. 6, it was observed that at a low cutting velocity
of 25 m/min, flank wear was 22 µm in cryogenic machining,
whereas, it was 44, 49 and 55 µm for MQL, wet and dry
machining, respectively. It was found that flank wear
reduction in cryogenic machining was 50% and 55% and
60%, respectively, compared to MQL, wet and dry machining.
This is attributed due to the supply of LN2 at the machining
zone causing lower cutting temperatures, this leads to less
buildup edge formation (BUE) at the tool flank face resulting
in an increase of tool hardness compared to other machining
environments. Similarly, under the same cutting conditions,
there were 10% and 20% reduction of flank wear was found
in MQL machining over the wet and dry machining, respect-
ively. The reason might be due to the friction reduction
between the tool and workpiece interface resulting from the
efficient penetration of MQL into the machining zone.
Figure 7 depicts the different wear mechanisms observed in
the machining of 17-4PH SS under these conditions. From
the SEM images, it was observed that the formation of BUE,
micro grooves on the cutting tool under dry machining
conditions. Micro grooves indicate the abrasive marks,
Figure 6. Effect of cutting velocity and cooling environment on tool flank wear.
 MATERIALS AND MANUFACTURING PROCESSES 1779

Figure 7. SEM images of tool flank wear at v ¼ 25 m/min, f ¼ 0.143 mm/rev and d ¼ 1 mm under different cooling environments (a) cryogenic, (b) MQL, (c) wet, and
(d) dry.

whereas, edge chipping and abrasive marks were found in wet
machining due to the different tool-chip contact nature. Under
low cutting velocity conditions, it was observed that major
wear mechanisms in the dry environment were adhesion and
abrasion, whereas, in wet, MQL and cryogenic environments
it was found as abrasion wear mechanism as shown in
Fig. 7. From Fig. 6, it can be seen that at a high cutting velocity
of 132 m/min, the obtained flank wear in cryogenic machining
was 84 µm, whereas, it was 186, 167, and 119 µm in dry, wet
and MQL machining, respectively. It was observed that
cryogenic machining reduces the flank wear by 55%, 50%,
and 20%, respectively, in contrast to dry, wet, and MQL
machining. Also, reduction of flank wear in MQL machining
was found to be 36% and 29% compared with dry and wet
machining, respectively. Figure 8 depicts the different wear
mechanisms in machining of 17-4 PH SS under the given con-
ditions. At high cutting velocity, adhesion (BUE) and abrasion
wear mechanism were found as dominant in dry and wet
environments. In MQL environment, wear mechanism is
attributed due to fracture, microgrooves and abrasive marks.

Figure 8. SEM images of tool flank wear at v ¼ 132 m/min, f ¼ 0.143 mm/rev and d ¼ 1 mm under different cooling environments (a) cryogenic, (b) MQL, (c) wet,
and (d) dry.
1780 P. SIVAIAH AND D. CHAKRADHAR
Figure 9. Effect of cutting velocity and cooling environment on tool rake wear.
Wear mechanism found in the cryogenic environment was
abrasion only because of spraying of LN2 at cutting zone
reduces the sticking of workpiece material to the cutting edge,
result in less BUE formation on the tool and similar results
were found Kaynak et al. [10] in their study. In overall, the
range of reduction of tool flank wear in cryogenic machining
was 51–60%, 41–55%, and 17–50%, respectively, over the dry,
wet, and MQL machining conditions when cutting velocity
increases from 25 to 132 m/min.
From Fig. 9, it was found that as cutting velocity increases
rake wear increases. This trend is due to the reduced tool-chip
contact length with a rise in cutting velocity implies that focus-
ing of high temperatures on the tool tip resulting in more rake
wear [24]. From Fig. 9, the obtained rake wear in dry,
wet, MQL and cryogenic machining at a cutting velocity of
25 m/min was 256, 236, 227, and 196 µm, respectively. Under
these conditions, rake wear reduction in cryogenic machining
Figure 10. SEM images of tool rake wear at v ¼ 25 m/min, f ¼ 0.143 mm/rev and d ¼ 1 mm under different cooling environments (a) cryogenic, (b) MQL, (c) wet, and
(d) dry.
was found to be 23%, 17%, and 14%, respectively, compared to
dry, wet, and MQL machining. MQL machining reduces the
rake wear by 11% and 3.8%, respectively, over the dry and
wet machining. At this point, MQL and wet machining have
performed almost equally. At this point SEM images of tool
rake wear were depicted in Fig. 10, it was evident that more
tool-chip contact owing to high cutting temperatures was
observed in dry and wet machining. The observed tool wear
mechanism in MQL, dry and wet machining was adhesion
as shown in Fig. 10. Similarly, from Fig. 9 it was observed that
at a high cutting velocity of 132 m/min, rake wear was 292,
320, 341, and 360 µm, respectively, for cryogenic, MQL, wet
and dry machining. At this point, the decrease of rake wear
in cryogenic machining was 19%, 14%, and 9%, respectively,
over dry, wet, and MQL machining. Whereas, when compared
to dry and wet machining, rake wear reduction in MQL was
found to be 11% and 6.2%, respectively. The reason might
be LN2 spray cooling makes the machining zone temperatures
low, led to chip lifting at tool rake face resulting in low chip
contact with the rake face of the tool, hence lower rake wear
was obtained in cryogenic machining. On a whole, when cut-
ting velocity increases from 25 m/min to 132 m/min, cryogenic
machining reduces the tool rake wear in the range of 9–14%,
14–17%, and 19–23%, respectively, over MQL, wet, and dry
machining conditions. Figure 11 depicts the different wear
mechanisms observed in the machining of 17-4 PH SS under
the given conditions. From SEM analysis, it was found that
the major rake wear contributed in wet and dry machining
was adhesion and abrasion wear mechanisms. Whereas, in
MQL machining, tool wear was mainly due to fracture. The
abrasion wear mechanism was mainly contributed to tool rake
wear in cryogenic machining and these results matched with
the Kaynak et al. [10] during their investigation under the
MQL, wet and dry conditions. From the results, it was

Figure 11. SEM images of tool rake wear at v ¼ 132 m/min, f ¼ 0.143 mm/rev and d ¼ 1 mm under different cooling environments (a) cryogenic, (b) MQL, (c) wet,
and (d) dry.
observed that cryogenic machining, reduced the tool wear
substantially, thus it reduces the total manufacturing cost by
limiting the number of tools compared to other environmental
machining conditions.
Surface roughness and topography are crucial in surface
integrity characteristics, which can affect the fatigue life of
the products greatly. The effect of cooling environment and
cutting velocity on surface roughness as shown in Fig. 12
and decreasing trend was observed for all the cooling
environments. This is due to the fact that increase of cutting
temperatures at the machining zone when cutting velocity
increases, leads to a rise in plastic deformation of the
machined surface resulting in low surface roughness. At a
cutting velocity of 25 m/min, the obtained surface roughness
in cryogenic machining was 1.85 µm whereas, it was 2.43,
2.27, and 2.24 µm for dry, wet, and MQL machining,
Figure 12. Effect of cutting velocity and cooling environment on surface
roughness.
MATERIALS AND MANUFACTURING PROCESSES 1781
respectively, as depicted in Fig. 12. At this point, the decrease
of surface roughness in cryogenic machining was 24%, 19%,
and 17%, respectively, compared to dry, wet and MQL
machining. It was also pragmatic that MQL machining
reduced the surface roughness by 8% and 1%, respectively,
compared to dry and wet machining environments. However,
it was noticed that MQL and wet machining were obtained
very closer surface roughness values at this cutting velocity.
At a high cutting velocity of 132 m/min, the obtained surface
roughness values for the respective MQL, wet and dry machin-
ing environments was 1.31, 1.46, and 1.69 µm, whereas, for
cryogenic machining, it was 1.01 µm as shown in Fig. 12. At
this point, the reduction of surface roughness found in cryo-
genic machining was 23%, 31%, and 40% respectively, over
the MQL, wet and dry machining environments. Also, in
MQL machining 22% and 10% reduction of surface roughness
was found when compared to dry and wet machining con-
ditions, respectively. The surface finish of the machined sur-
face is greatly influenced by the tool flank wear. At all the
cutting velocities, cryogenic machining substantially reduced
the surface roughness value when compared to other machin-
ing environments as shown in Fig. 12. This results in substan-
tial control of machining zone temperatures with the spraying
of LN2 at the machining zone, led to lower tool wear, thus the
generation of less tool marks and less debris (which come from
adhesion wear) on the machined surfaces. It is evident from
Figs. 13 and 14 that less surface defects were found in cryo-
genic machining, this is ascribed to lower cutting temperatures
and retained the tool shape provided by the LN2 spray.
Whereas, more surface defects like side flow, debris, grooves
and adhered micro particles were identified in dry, wet, and
MQL machining conditions due to the type of tool geometry
obtained in the respective machining environments (see
Figures 7, 8, 10 and 11). In the present study, the trend of
1782 P. SIVAIAH AND D. CHAKRADHAR

Figure 13. SEM images of machined surfaces at v ¼ 25 m/min, f ¼ 0.143 mm/rev and d ¼ 1 mm under different cooling environments (a) cryogenic, (b) MQL, (c) wet,
and (d) dry.

the obtained results is matched with the findings of the
literature results [12]. Taken as a whole, while the increase
of cutting velocity from 25 to 132 m/min, the range of
reduction of surface roughness in cryogenic machining was
24–40%, 19–31%, and 14–23%, respectively, over dry, wet,
and MQL machining. From the health and environmental
prospective, dry and cryogenic machining are the feasible
solutions for machining 17-4 PH SS. But, sustainable manufac-
turing point of view, cryogenic machining helped to increase
the surface finish in contrast to dry machining which leads
to improved product performance.
Figures 15 and 16 depict the surface topography obtained
under various environmental machining conditions at varying
cutting velocity conditions. At a low cutting velocity of
25 m/min, cryogenic machining produced the low peak inten-
sity and uniform machined surfaces compared to MQL, wet
and dry machining. At a high cutting velocity of 132 m/min,
cryogenic machining generated a low peak intensity and more
uniform surfaces than at a low cutting velocity compared to
other machining environments. This is a result from the less
tool flank wear (less BUE formation from adhesion wear)
observed in the cryogenic machining compared to other

Figure 14. SEM images of machined surfaces at v ¼ 132 m/min, f ¼ 0.143 mm/rev and d ¼ 1 mm under different cooling environments (a) cryogenic, (b) MQL,
(c) wet, and (d) dry.
 MATERIALS AND MANUFACTURING PROCESSES 1783

Figure 15. SEM images of surface topography at v ¼ 25 m/min, f ¼ 0.143 mm/rev and d ¼ 1 mm under different cooling environments (a) cryogenic, (b) MQL,
(c) wet, and (d) dry.

cooling environments. Another reason might be the reduction similar findings were observed [15, 24, 25]. From Figs. 15
of machining zone temperatures causes less thermal distortion and 16, it was observed that as the cutting velocity increases,
on the cryogenically machined surfaces. In the literature, the peak intensity of machined surfaces reduces under all

Figure 16. SEM images of surface topography at v ¼ 132 m/min, f ¼ 0.143 mm/rev and d ¼ 1 mm under different cooling environments (a) cryogenic, (b) MQL,
(c) wet, and (d) dry.
1784 P. SIVAIAH AND D. CHAKRADHAR
the cooling environments. This is due to the increased thermal
softening effect under the higher cutting conditions causes
fewer surface defects in machined surfaces under all the
cooling environments.
Tool wear and surface quality of machined surface have
considerably affected by the forms of chips produced during
the machining process. In the current study, favorable chips
mean chips which do not encourage the jamming of machin-
ing operation and easy flow of chips. Chip morphology
obtained under different machining conditions as shown in
Figs. 17 and 18. At a low cutting velocity of 25 m/min,
cryogenic machining produced the metallic color, thick
discontinuous helical or tubular shaped chips with a small
diameter which are favorable for the machining operation.
Similarly, in wet machining, thick discontinuous helical or
tubular shaped chips were obtained, but bluish gray color
and bigger diameter than cryogenic machining. Whereas, the
chips obtained in MQL machining were a thick metallic color,
long continuous spiral shape chips which are difficult to break.
But, dry machining produced chips were light golden
color, thick long ribbon type which are encouraged to create
problem to the manual operator as well as machining oper-
ation. Tool-chip contact length significantly influenced by
the cutting velocity. As cutting velocity increases, tool-chip
contact length decreases, resulting in a reduction in the chip
thickness [26]. At a high cutting velocity of 132 m/min, met-
allic color very thin discontinuous long ribbon type chips were
found in cryogenic machining which have a complimentary
impact on the machining operation. Whereas, all other
machining environments have produced thin unfavorable,
very long ribbon type chips with different colors. At this point,
MQL, wet and dry machining conditions, respectively,
Figure 17. Form of chips generated at v ¼ 25 m/min, f ¼ 0.143 mm/rev and d ¼ 1 mm under different cooling environments (a) cryogenic, (b) MQL, (c) wet, and
(d) dry.
produced the metallic, bluish gray color and golden color.
At all the cutting velocities, the favorable chip shape and size
were obtained in the cryogenic machining due to the use of
LN2 at the machining zone, causes lower temperatures at the
machining zone, this lead to drop in the plasticity of
the material during chip formation as well as ductility and
the bending capacity resulting improved chip control
(breakability). At a high cutting velocity of 132 m/min, except
in cryogenic machining remaining other machining environ-
ments, it was observed that jamming of chips at the machining
zone during experimentations which causes the generation of
scratches on the machined surface resulting in a poor surface
finish. Also, this might be the cause for chipping of cutting
edge or nose edge of the tool. From the microscopic images
of chips, it was seen that more side flow of material was found
in dry, wet, and MQL machining conditions at the given con-
ditions as shown in Fig. 19. This is due to the development of
high cutting temperatures in dry, wet and MQL machining
causes for increased plasticity in the material resulting in more
side flow. Whereas, very less side flow of material was found in
cryogenic machining and similar results were found in the
literature [16]. This is resulting from the superior cooling
effect of LN2 led to lower machining temperatures hence less
side flow of material. Among all the machining environments,
cryogenic machining involves no chip cleaning cost and no
hazard from the health and sustainable manufacturing point
of view.
The white layer is a featureless structure and unwanted
subsurface, it adversely affects the wear resistance of the pro-
duct. In the literature, the relation between the tool wear
and the white layer thickness has been discussed [27, 28]. It
has been reported that as tool wear increases, white layer
 MATERIALS AND MANUFACTURING PROCESSES 1785

Figure 18. Form of chips at v ¼ 132 m/min, f ¼ 0.143 mm/rev and d ¼ 1 mm under different cooling environments (a) cryogenic, (b) MQL, (c) wet, and (d) dry.

thickness increases. In the current study, high tool wear values
were observed at high cutting velocity compared to low cutting
velocity. From Fig. 20, at the respective given cutting con-
ditions, the observed WLT values for the dry, wet, MQL and
cryogenic machining was 2.020, 1.827, 1.376, and 0.737 µm,
respectively. A similar type of results was found in the
literature [29] during machining of steel grade material. From
Fig. 20, it was observed that cryogenic machining produced
low WLT compared to other machining environments. It is
evident from Fig. 21 that WLT produced in cryogenic machin-
ing was less compared to other machining environments. This
is because of lower cutting temperatures and low tool wear

Figure 19. Microscopic images of chips at v ¼ 132 m/min, f ¼ 0.143 mm/rev and d ¼ 1 mm under different cooling environments (a) cryogenic, (b) MQL, (c) wet, and
(d) dry.
1786 P. SIVAIAH AND D. CHAKRADHAR

with LN2 cooling compared to other cooling environments.

Figure 20. Effect of cooling environment on white layer thickness at
v ¼ 132 m/min, f ¼ 0.143 mm/rev, and d ¼ 1 mm.
Another reason might be due to the reduction of rate of plastic
deformation, rapid cooling and quenching mechanisms in
cryogenic machining cause for low WLT [29]. Figure 22
depicts the EDAX analysis under the given conditions. From
the EDAX analysis, it was found that white layer consists of
different chemical composition (presence of foreign elements
like C, O and absence of nickel element) compared to the
polished surface (bulk material), these changes make the met-
allurgical changes in the white layer and show different
properties. From the results, it has been found that at a higher
cutting velocity, cryogenic machining reduces the WLT by
63%, 60%, and 46% compared to dry, wet and MQL, respect-
ively. So, cryogenic machining significantly improves the wear
resistance of the product over the other cooling environments.
From the operator’s health and environmental point of
view, wet coolant causes skin decreases and environmental
damage. In the same way, for MQL machining there is no

Figure 21. SEM images of white layer thickness at v ¼ 132 m/min, f ¼ 0.143 mm/rev and d ¼ 1 mm under different cooling environments (a) dry, (b) wet, (c) MQL,
and (d) cryogenic.

Figure 22. EDAX analysis of 17-4 PH SS (a) at polished surface and (b) at white layer surface.

environmental pollution, but MQL mist causes inhalation
problems to the operator. Whereas, with dry and cryogenic
machining no health and environmental pollution because
LN2 quickly evaporates, but dry machining fails to produce
quality products and increased productivity, whereas, cryo-
genic increases both quality and productivity of the product
from the sustainable manufacturing point of view. However,
in cryogenic machining, proper care has to be taken while
handling LN2, if skin is exposed to liquid nitrogen for a longer
period, it leads to cold burning.
Conclusions
. The maximum tool flank wear reductions observed in
cryogenic machining was 60%, 55%, and 50%, respectively,
over the dry, wet, and MQL machining conditions, in the
same way, reduced the tool rake wear to a maximum of
23%, 17%, and 14%, respectively, over the dry, wet, and
MQL machining environments.
. The maximum cutting temperature drop found in cryo-
genic was 72%, 62%, and 61%, respectively, in contrast
to dry, wet, and MQL machining conditions.
. The maximum tool flank wear reductions observed in
cryogenic machining was 40%, 31%, and 23%, respect-
ively, compared to dry, wet, and MQL machining
environments.
. Cryogenic machining generated less cutting zone tem-
peratures, low tool wear and superior surface integrity
results at the all cutting velocities over the other cutting
environments. Hence, it is recommended that cryogenic
machining is the best option for machining of 17-4 PHSS
at the all cutting velocities.
. Cryogenic machining produced favorable chip forms
with less residual at all the cutting velocities by improving
the chip breakability capability compared to other
machining environments.
. In overall, cryogenic machining improved the surface
and subsurface properties greatly, result in improved per-
formance of the product compared to other machining
environmental conditions.
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