Application of Similarity Method and Dimensional Analysis in Determining the Performance Parameters of Agitator Paddles for Caltex Aquatex 3180 Cutting Oil

Abstract

Aquatex 3180 is the general purpose soluble oil, formulated for use in a wide variety of machining operations. In fact, the natural diffusion in the liquid is very slow, especially the mixing ratio, and the homogeneity of the solution is difficult to achieve according to the manufacturer's recommendation. Hence, the agitator is required to improve the uniformity of the solution in that the obtained cutting fluid can be effectively used in machining processes to fulfill the role of cooling and lubricating. In this work, the application of the similarity method and dimensional analysis for studying agitator model for mixing Aquatex 3180 cutting oil to build the set of input parameters in the experimental process. The results reveal that the input parameters in the study of the agitator model using 9 similarity criterions πi (i = 1 ... 9) instead of 12 independent parameters. In addition, the standard π2 can characterize the displacement properties of the fluid flow considering the influence of gravity. It means that the number of experiments reduce but still ensure that many experimental input parameters are still guaranteed, therefore ensuring proper description of the actual operation of the machine.