Machinability improvement by the use of liquid nitrogen in cryogenic machining has been reported in various studies. This has been mostly attributed to the cooling effect of liquid nitrogen. However, No study has been found in discussion on whether liquid nitrogen possesses lubrication effect in cryogenic cutting. This paper presents lubrication mechanism related to chip microstructure. The friction reduction was further reflected In larger shear angle and less secondary deformation in the chip microstructures.

In this paper some physical evidences indicate that reduced friction occurs in an cryogenic machining process, in which LN2 is applied to the selected cutting zone. LN2 also reduced the tool wear rate to a great extent and elongated the tool life up to four times compared to emulsion cooling.

This paper presents some physical evidences indicating that reduced friction occurs in an cryogenic machining process, in which LN2 is applied selectively in well-controlled jets to the selected cutting zone. In machining tests, cryogenic machining reduced the force component in the feed direction, indicating that the chip slides on the tool rake face with lower friction. This study also found that the effectiveness of LN2 lubrication depends on the approach how LN2 is applied regarding cutting forces related.