190 Optimization of Fluid Application Parameters during Hard Turning of AISI H13 Tool Steel using Minimal Cutting Fluid Application Anil Raj 1 , K. Leo Dev Wins 2 and A. S. Varadarajan 3 1 Research Scholar, 2 Associate Professor, Karunya University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India 3 Professor, Principal, Nehru College of Engineering & Research Centre, Thrissur, Kerala, India International Journal of Research in Mechanical Engineering Volume 4, Issue 3, May-June, 2016, pp. 190-196 ISSN Online: 2347-5188 Print: 2347-8772, DOA: 27052016 © IASTER 2016, www.iaster.com ABSTRACT Turning of hardened steel is characterized by high cutting temperatures and cutting force which makes is necessary to use large amounts of cutting fluid. The option of machining with minimal cutting fluid application (MCFA) seems a viable alternative to flood cooling since they counter the effects of using large amounts of cutting fluid such as significant operating cost and its negative impact on workshop environment and operator health due to the toxic nature of cutting fluids. MCFA aims at better overall cutting performance by reducing the cutting force which results in less power consumption and less heat generation while giving a better surface finish. The current paper aims to present optimized fluid application parameters during the hard turning of AISI H13 tool work steel using MCFA. The cutting speed, feed and depth of cut are set constant at 115mm/min, 0.05mm/rev and 1mm respectively. Taguchi’s DOE approach is used to select the L 9 orthogonal array. The fluid application parameters considered for MCFA are pressure at the injectors, frequency of pulsing, composition of cutting fluid and quantity of cutting fluid. The output parameters considered are cutting force and surface roughness. Confirmation tests were performed to compare the predicted values with the experimental results and it was found that the predicted values matched well with the experimental results. Keywords: AISI H13, Hard Turning, Minimal Cutting Fluid Application, Taguchi DOE. 1. INTRODUCTION In modern machining industries, paramount importance is given to achieving increasingly efficient and eco friendly manufacturing systems that are capable of giving maximum levels of productivity at the highest quality while simultaneously machining costs at a minimum. To reach such levels of high productivity while using hardened steels, the usually high machining time taking process must be sped up (Hwang et al,2009). Conventionally, hardened steel components followed a three step process of rough machining followed by a heat treatment to bring up the hardness as required and a final round of finish machining for dimensional accuracy. The introduction of CBN and ceramic tools and other tools of high hot hardness was a solution to such time and labour intensive machining methods. This simplified process of machining the steel blank to its final dimension in the hardened state was a much profitable alternative. The process of hard turning is one such process that is quickly replacing traditional methods of machining in the automotive and tool and die industries. However, the hard turning of steels is associated with severe cutting conditions characterized by high cutting forces and high cutting temperatures making it important to use a robust machine tool coupled with appropriate cooling systems to produce work of required surface integrity while avoiding thermal