This BRITE EURAM targeted research action identified ten specific tasks. The first step for the participants was to choose the cutting tools and machine tool systems they would use in the project. Suppliers Kendu of Spain and Kennametal Hertel of Germany demonstrated some standard tools to the metalworking enterprises that would use them. These were the major German industrial group Robert Bosch, which machines aluminium parts; Ovako Steel of Sweden, part of the SKF group and a producer of precision steel parts for bearings; and Austria's Enzesfeld-Caro Metallwerke, a member of the Austria Buntmettal non-ferrous metal group, which manufactures bronze friction bearings.

During the programme, Kendu worked on improving cutting tools, choosing the materials from which they could be made in order to minimise pollution, and delivering them to the three manufacturers - which were particularly interested in tools and techniques for working on more difficult metals and alloys.

Spanish company Danobat, which specialises in machine tools, has optimised the design of lathes and machining centres to guarantee the reliability of production processes. It also helped develop dry cutting systems, using coated tools.

Specialist Italian manufacturer Fuchs Lubrificanti worked on new synthetic lubricants that would be environmentally friendly, yet give good lubrication and be suitable for MQL systems. It has succeeded in developing two synthetic fluids based on esters, which were successfully tested in the laboratory and in trials by Bosch. These have since been further analysed and have the potential to replace traditional lubricants in many processes.

The key feature of dry cutting is to eliminate the need for lubricant by applying a wear-resistant coating to the tools. Drilling and turning operations on steel showed that cutting fluids could be replaced by dry machining under controlled conditions without significant reduction in tool wear life.

Both dry cutting and MQL cutting are complex processes that severely attack the coatings. However, the project co-ordinator Bodycote of the Netherlands studied this aspect of the programme - as did Spanish research organisation, Tekniker. Tekniker developed physical vapour deposition (PVD) coatings for drilling, milling and turning tools, which successfully met the requirements for the selected materials. It also investigated the possibilities of gaseous cooling media and a biodegradable neat-oil cutting fluid.

Another aspect investigated was whether cemented carbide or high-speed steel tools with suitable coatings could cut materials such as aluminium alloys, chrome steel and bronze. Here, the effect of tool pre-treatment on coating life was found to be important. A further desirable coating property is easy stripping when the tool becomes worn and has to be reground. When the best coatings had been identified, their hardness was optimised, production costs were minimised and sample tools produced for end-users to test.

Dry machining was also developed for precision operations on bronzes and sequences of aluminium parts. The method has been proven on a laboratory scale, and production tests promise early adoption by industry.

The Rhine-Westphalia technical high school (WZL) at Aachen developed a systematic methodology for implementing low-pollutant cutting for all the applications studied. WZL also measured the concentration of vapours in the machining area to study the health aspects, performed cutting tests with the new products, and proposed various cutting strategies.

This work led to the development of a machining system including all the new elements in a process optimised to use the least amount of cooling lubricant to give a good result. It has the potential to increase the profitability of manufacturing for a key industrial sector, while also improving the quality of the environment in Europe.