Metrological analysis of surface quality aspects in minimum quantity cooling lubrication

•Influence of cooling method on surface topography parameters,•Map of mass flow distribution of active medium and impact on the amplitude parameters,•Power spectral density and surface profiles of AISI 1045 steel surface after turning,•Comparison of machined surface microhardness depending on the cooling method,•Strain hardened zone analysis. This study focuses on metrological aspects of cooling methods that contribute to the development of sustainable production using a very small amount of active medium. This paper presents the evaluation of surface integrity aspects during turning of AISI 1045 steel with various cooling/lubricating techniques such as machining in dry conditions, MQCL method, MQCL method with extreme pressure/anti-wear additive (EP/AW). Initially, the experiments were performed with the parameter space investigation method. Then, the surface integrity aspects were characterized by the parametric evaluation of surface topography and the results of strain hardening. With an application of MQCL + EP/AW turning, surfaces with more even distribution of valleys and peaks were generated, which resulted, inter alia, in the reduction of selected roughness height parameters (Sa, Sp, Sv). The signal of power spectral density (PSD) analysis also confirmed that the presence of surface topography components is highly responsible for regular feed marks.