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The manufacturing sector is increasingly seeking higher production rates, resulting in a
greater demand for finished or near-finished components, where surface roughness serves
as a crucial indicator of surface quality in machined parts. Alongside this, there is a robust
effort to reduce energy consumption during machining processes, thereby lessening the
carbon footprint associated with manufacturing. Milling is one of the most widely used
cutting processes in the industry; however, the conventional lubricants used have raised
significant health concerns. This study investigates the impact of sustainable lubricants,
specifically sunflower oil, on surface roughness and energy consumption during the milling
of aerospace alloys. In the present research, the machining parameters were varied using
the Taguchi L9 array design of experiments, and their influence on the response
parameters, including specific cutting energy and surface finish was ascertained under
different conditions: dry, with conventional cutting oil, and using sustainable sunflower
oil. Our analysis of variance revealed that feed per tooth (fz) was the most influential
parameter, accounting for 55.46% and 65.69% of the variation in surface roughness and
specific cutting energy, respectively. Notably, results indicated that sunflower oil as a
lubricant not only decreased energy consumption but also offered an environmentally
friendly alternative. Validation of the experimental design was achieved through
confirmatory tests conducted under both optimal and suboptimal conditions, supporting the
srobustness of our findings.