Effect of Vegetable Based Lubricants on Equal Channel Angular Extrusion Pressure

Abstract

This research aimed at investigating vegetable based lubricant as a replacement for chemical based lubricants on extrusion pressure of equal channel angular extrusion of Aluminum. In the process, aluminum alloy (Al 6063) was heated at 350°C for one hour, machined and cut to billets size of 11.95 m x 11.95 m x 40 m (l × b × h). The billets were extruded through die of 12 mm x 12 mm channel cross-section area, the channel angle was 60°. Four vegetable based lubricants namely jatropha, neem, castor and cotton seed oils were used. The die was centrally located on the bed of vertical hydraulic testing machine and the billet was inserted into the entrance channel. Lubrication was applied to the billet to decrease its friction and with the channel inner wall. The ram displacement per plunger speed was 1 mm per 1 second respectively. For each lubricant, four samples were extruded through ECAE die to confirm the repeatability of the results and the average values of the extrusion pressure were computed. The results were compared to the sample extruded via conventional lubricants. It was discovered of all the extruded samples, jatropha oil gave the least extrusion pressure of 83 kN, cottonseed oil extruded at 104 kN  and castor oil at 151.4 kN while neem oil require the highest pressure at 220.9 kN. The chemical based lubricants that serve as the control from the literature gave the extrusion pressure of 81 kN. It can be concluded that the oil from jatropha seed is the best in terms of extrusion pressure and can effectively replace the chemical based lubricants.