ORIGINAL ARTICLE Experimental study of the influence of graphene platelets on the performance of grinding of SAE 52100 steel Raphael Lima de Paiva 1,2 & Rodrigo de Souza Ruzzi 1 & Letícia Raquel de Oliveira 1 & Enio Pedone Bandarra Filho 1 & Luiz Mauricio Gonçalves Neto 1 & Rogério Valentim Gelamo 3 & Rosemar Batista da Silva 1 Received: 28 April 2020 /Accepted: 31 July 2020 # Springer-Verlag London Ltd., part of Springer Nature 2020 Abstract The use of coolant during grinding process is indispensable to avoid and/or attenuate any possible thermal damages on the workpiece. However, the conventional cooling-lubrication technique (flood system) has some drawbacks, especially regarding the fact that most of the coolants are harmful to environment and human healthy, besides higher costs, maintenance, and disposal. Therefore, not only the search for new methods that contribute in reducing the amount of coolant in grinding process is crucial, but also the search to improve techniques consolidated in machining processes, such as the minimum quantity lubrication (MQL). In this sense, the improvement of the thermal properties and lubrication of the coolants by nanoparticles has been one of the promising alternatives. The present work brings a contribution for bearing manufacturing industry by analyzing the effect of the concentration of multilayer graphene platelets (MLG) dispersed in coolant on the surface finish and morphology of the SAE 52100 bearing steel after grinding under various conditions. MLG were dispersed in an environmentally friendly cutting fluid (semi-synthetic vegetable based) and delivered via the MQL technique. Tests with the traditional MQL technique (oil without graphene) were also carried out for comparisons. Electric power was also monitored. The results showed that the low concen- trations of MLG improved the tribological conditions in the cutting zone that resulted in better surface finish and morphology, but no influence on the electrical power was observed. The MLG proved to be a practical alternative in relation to traditional MQL technique in grinding of the SAE 52100 bearing steel. Keywords Grinding . MQL technique . Multilayer graphene platelets . Surface morphology . Electric power 1 Introduction Grinding is an abrasive machining process usually employed to provide combination of low surface roughness values with tight dimensional tolerances [1]; it is used as a finishing pro- cess in the final stage of manufacturing process chain, espe- cially in grinding of hard materials. Some peculiarities of grinding process deserves special at- tention, such as cutting speed that are usually at least an order of magnitude greater than one employed in milling, while depth of cut and undeformed chip thicknesses are about two orders of magnitude smaller in grinding than in milling, as well as chips with very small sections that result in the high specific energy [2]. * Raphael Lima de Paiva raphaellimap@ufpi.edu.br Rodrigo de Souza Ruzzi rodruzzi@gmail.com Letícia Raquel de Oliveira letciarakel@gmail.com Enio Pedone Bandarra Filho bandarra@ufu.br Luiz Mauricio Gonçalves Neto goncalui@yahoo.com.br Rogério Valentim Gelamo rogelamo@gmail.com Rosemar Batista da Silva rosemar.silva@ufu.br 1 School of Mechanical Engineering, Federal University of Uberlandia, Uberlandia, MG, Brazil 2 School of Mechanical Engineering, Federal University of Piauí, Teresina, PI, Brazil 3 Institute of Technological and Exact Sciences, Federal University of Triângulo Mineiro, Uberaba, MG, Brazil The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-020-05866-x