WO1992021737A1

WO1992021737A1 - Reduced dust lubricant and process for preparation of metals for cold forming

Info

Publication number: WO1992021737A1
Application number: PCT/US1992/004373
Authority: WO
Inventors: Peter F. King
Original assignee: Henkel Corporation
Priority date: 1991-06-03
Filing date: 1992-05-26
Publication date: 1992-12-10
Also published as: JPH05156279A; AU2176092A; ZA923917B

Abstract

Release of dust into the environment when using conventional stearate soap lubrication for cold working of metals over a phosphate conversion coating can be greatly reduced by adding to a conventional stearate soap lubricating solution an effective amount, e.g., up to 25 weight percent of a water-soluble alkali metal soap of an unsaturated fatty acid, i.e. oleic acid. Optionally, a film forming polymer to further reduce any dust, along with optional corrosion inhibitors and/or complexing agents for heavy metals.

Description

REDUCED DUST LUBRICANT AND PROCESS FOR PREPARATION O METALS FOR COLD FORMING

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to compositions an methods for lubricating metal surfaces prior to drawin or other cold forming processes on the lubricated metal Normally, the surfaces to be lubricated are first given phosphate conversion coating, before applying th lubricant according to this invention. Statement of Related Art

It has been known for many years to prepare metal for cold forming by lubrication with a soap or simila material. Generally, a phosphate conversion coating applied from solutions that contain zinc ions, and some times also contain calcium, nickel, manganese, copper and/or other divalent metal ions, is put on the surfac prior to coating with the soap. An aqueous solution o alkali metal soap, such as sodium stearate, capable o reacting with zinc phosphate to produce a very favorabl form of zinc stearate called "reacted lube*¹ in situ o the surface, is generally preferred for the lubricatio stage. The outer surface of a metal object treated wi such a lubricant has a thin, friable layer of soap on i and any physical handling of such an object, includi the drawing processes for which they have be lubricated, often generates dust in the surroundi atmosphere. Increased general consciousness in rece years about chronic illnesses possibly caused by worke breathing dusts has motivated attempts to change modify soap type lubricants used before cold forming, reduce the generation of dust from metal objects treated. Such is one object of this invention.

Published European patent application 0 301 120, a cording to an English abstract of it, teaches a met working lubricant composition comprising (Al) 0.2 - 1. by weight of poly{vinyl alcohol} and/or (A2) 0.2 - 3% a derivative of polyvinyl alcohol produced by treati the poly{vinyl alcohol} with an oxidizing agent a containing, in addition to -OH groups, keto groups, ca boxyl and/or carboxylate ion groups and optionally ald hyde groups and/or olefin groups conjugated with ke groups, (Bl) 1 - 45% of water-insoluble fatty acid sal of which at least 65% have a chain length of at least 1 carbon atoms and (B2) 0 - 1.5% of water-soluble alkal metal soaps, and/or (Cl) 1 - 6% of a glass-forming borat and/or (C2) 1 - 6% of boric acid esters of polyviny alcohols (Al) and/or (A2) , and (D) 0 - 1% of surfactant.

An English abstract of published East German paten application 257 359 teaches a lubricant for cold workin of metal comprising 1 - 45% of an alkaline earth meta soap, 0.2 - 1.8% of poly{vinyl alcohol}, 4 - 6% alkal metal borate, and the balance water.

An English abstract of published East German paten application 256 804 teaches a lubricant for cold workin of metal comprising insoluble soaps dispersed in water glass-forming inorganic additives, poly{vinyl alcohol} and optionally surfactants, wherein 0.2 - 3% of th solution is a derivative of PVA structurally modified b an oxidant so that it contains at least keto and carboxy or carboxylate groups.

An English abstract of a Russian patent applicatio SU-279841, describes a lubricant for cold drawing o metals comprised of an alkali metal soap of a compositio containing 25-50% by weight of oleic acid, 5-10% steari acid, 15-20% linoleic acid and 5-10% dihydroxy steari acid, the balance being polymerization products triglycerides and esters of the acids.

None of the abstracts of these East German, Russia and European patents teach any dust reduction benefit from using the compositions taught therein.

Japanese Laid-Open Application 57-40200 teaches tha exfoliation and shedding of a lubricant layer during col drawing may be substantially reduced by adding 2 - 5 % o an emulsion of a copolymer of ethylene and vinyl acetat to a lime soap lubricating solution containing quic lime, metal soap, aluminum stearate, and water or to solution of borax and water. The presence of quicklim (i.e., calcium oxide or hydroxide) in the solution according to this invention would destroy reacted lube. Description of the Invention

In this description, except in the operatin examples or where expressly stated to the contrary, al numbers describing amounts of materials or conditions o reaction or use are to be understood in all instances a modified by the word "about" in defining the broades scope of the invention. Practice within the exac numerical limits specified is generally preferred.

An improved fatty acid soap lubricant compositio has now been discovered in which the dust generatin tendency is greatly reduced in use in cold formin processes of lubricated metals. The improve soa lubricant component of the lubricant composition consist essentially of an alkali metal salt of a saturated fatt acid with up to about 25 weight percent of an alkal metal salt of an unsaturated fatty acid. As little about 2.5% by weight of the unsaturated fatty acid s provides some improvement in dust reduction, with from 25% being more desirable and from about 10 to 15 or being most preferred. Typically the alkali metal sal are the sodium, potassium or lithium salts, with sodi being preferred.

While fatty acids, saturated and unsaturated, havi 8 to 22 carbon atoms may be employed, the preferred aci are those with 16-20 carbon atoms with the 18 carbon at acids being most preferred. Thus, sodium stearate so is the most preferred for the saturated fatty ac component with sodium oleate being preferred as t unsaturated fatty acid component. In view of the foregoing, there is provided lubricant for cold forming of metals comprised of a fat acid soap component, an improvement for providing reduc dust tendency wherein the improvement is a fatty ac soap component consisting essentially of a mixture of alkali metal soap of a saturated fatty acid having from to 22 carbon atoms (most preferably 18 carbon atoms) a up to 25% by weight (more desirably 5-22%, and preferab 10 to 15 or 22%) of an alkali metal soap of unsaturated fatty acid having from 8 to 22 carbon ato (most preferably 18 carbon atoms) .

The fatty acid soaps are water soluble, also call reactive soaps as they react with the zinc phospha conversion coatings typically employed on the met surfaces prior to application of the lubrica composition before cold drawing or forming of the meta The typical reactive saturated fatty acid soap availab is sodium stearate, a technical grade availab commercially as C₁₈ soap containing at least 95% sodi stearate, with < 3% of C₁₆ fatty acids, and < 1% combin C₁₅ and C₁₇ fatty acids. Grades containing lesser amoun of sodium stearate may be employed but are les desirable. It is preferred that the concentration of reacti soap in the working lubricant solutions according to t invention lie within the range of 5 to 150 g/L solution. Increasingly more preferably, the amount reactive soap concentrate is at least 10 or 16 g/L, up about 60 or 70 g/L.

It is preferred that the lubricant solutio according to this invention should be substantially fre from insoluble soaps such as the alkaline earth metal a other polyvalent metal ion salts of fatty acids. Les than 1% by weight, or with increasing preference, les than 0.8, 0.5, or 0.1% by weight of such insoluble soap are preferred in the compositions.

The dust generating tendency of the soap lubrican coatings may be further reduced, without substantial los of lubricating effect, by addition of an optional vate soluble, film-forming polymer to the aqueous soluti from which the lubricant coating is conventionall applied, as further described in commonly assigned, U.S application of Kulongowski, U.S. Serial No. 551,982 filed July 12, 1990. (The term "water-soluble" as use for the film-forming polymer herein means that th solubility is sufficient to cause an appreciabl reduction in dusting tendency when used together wit other conventional ingredients in a conventional aqueous post-phosphating, lubricating solution. The term film forming means that a layer no more than 2 millimeter {"mm"} thick of a water solution of the polymer alon dries spontaneously at a temperature of 85* or more t produce a continuous film. It is increasingly preferabl when a continuous film is formed under these condition at drying temperatures not lower than 72, 60, 44, 31, o 20* C.)

Preferably the amount of water-soluble film-formin polymer used is from 2 to 20, more preferably from 5 t 15, still more preferably from 6 to 8% by weight of th amount of water-soluble salts of fatty acids that ar used in the lubricating solutions.

Preferably, the water-soluble film-forming poly used for the invention is selected from the group c sisting of poly{vinyl alcohol} (hereinafter "PVA poly{2-ethyl-2-oxazolene} (hereinafter "PEOx poly{ethylene oxide} (hereinafter "PEO") , pol {vi pyrrolidone} (hereinafter "PVP") , and copoly ers of vi acetate and ethylene (hereinafter "EVA") . Among t group, EVA is less preferred and PVA is most preferr and among types of PVA, that prepared by hydrolyz poly{vinyl acetate} and containing 11 - 13 % of resid acetate groups is most preferred.

In some cases in which soap solutions according the invention with water-soluble film-forming polymer an optional ingredient added to a fatty acid s formulation, increased corrosion of the coated metal be observed. This corrosion can be avoided by adding optional inhibitor to the mixture. Such use of optional inhibitor is accordingly preferred with use the optional film-forming polymers. When employed inhibitor preferably is used in an amount that is f 0.9 to 8.6, more preferably from 1 to 7, still mo preferably from 2 to 5 weight percent of the amount water-soluble salts of fatty acids with from 8 to carbon atoms that are used in the lubricating solution Preferably the corrosion inhibitor is selected from t group consisting of alkali metal nitrites, organ amines, amine borates, organic carboxylic acids, aromat sulfonic acids and their water-soluble salts, wat soluble salts of boric acid, alkanol amides, a imidazoline. The most preferred corrosion inhibitor sodium nitrite.

It has also been observed that best results a obtained with soap solutions when they are formulat with the optional film formers that they have somewh higher Babcock Numbers than would normally be used f the same solution in the absence of the film- ormi polymers. Preferably the Babcock Number in an aqueou soap solution of this invention is between 0.5 and 5, o more preferably between 2 and 3.5.

A solution according to this invention may als contain an optional complexing agent for heavy metals, a taught generally in U. S. Patent 4,199,381 of April 22 1980 to Nuss et al. The complexing agent may be an material known as such in the art, including ethylen diaminetetraacetic acid (hereinafter "EDTA") and it salts, nitrilotriacetic acid (hereinafter "NTA") and it salts, N-hydroxyethylethylene dia inetriacetic aci (hereinafter "NEDTA") and its salts, diethylene triamin pentaacetic acid and its salts, and diethanol glycine.

Alkalinity of a working lubricating solutio generally increases removal of any pre-applied phosphat conversion coating layers and increases the tendency o the final lubricant coating to cause dust. Therefore, i is increasingly preferred that the pH of the workin lubricating solution according to this invention no exceed 11, more desirably not exceed 10.6, and preferabl not exceed 10.0 or 9.6. Most preferably, aqueou lubricating solutions according to the invention have free acid value as defined hereafter between 0.3 and 0. points. Another embodiment of this invention is composition of a concentrate from which a lubricatin solution composition according to the invention can b prepared by mixing with water. Generally, for economy i shipping, a solid concentrate with relatively littl (less than 40% by weight) water is preferred. In orde to solubilize the preferred amount of the reactive soa from the concentrate and form a working lubricatin solution according to the invention, the water with whic a solid concentrate is mixed must usually be raised t about 85° C or higher in temperature. As noted earlier a working lubricant solution will contain from 5 to 15 g/L_# preferably 10-16 up to about 60-70 g/L. A process embodiment of this invention may be pe formed by contacting a suitable phosphated surface with lubricating solution according to the invention, generally described above. An ideal lubricating process would maintain consistent, high coating weight level of reacted lub avoid the introduction into the lubricating solution byproducts that interfere with the desired reacti between constituents of the phosphate coating a constituents of the lubricating solution, and remove minimal amount of the phosphate coating that was on t metal when it entered the lubricating solution. actual lubricating solution known can accomplish su ideal lubrication, but preferable prior art practic baths tend toward maximizing the ratio of reacted lu coating weight to conversion coating loss, wi consideration toward optimizing the ratio of reacted lu coating weight to unreacted lube coating weight. In th present invention, it has been found that the amount o reacted lube is less important than with solutions of th prior art, because sufficiently low drawing forces an adequate lubrication for drawing can be obtained wit lower ratios of reacted to unreacted lube than in th prior art. Nevertheless, it is increasingly preferre that a process according to this invention continue for sufficient time to produce a total lubricant coatin weight of at least 3 g/m², in order to avoid undesirabl high drawing force requirements for the lubricate surfaces produced. The temperature of the lubricating solution and th time of contact between the lubricating solution and th phosphated surface in any process according to thi invention are generally within the range of suc conditions as used in the art for reactive lubrication For example, the temperature is usually preferabl between 70 and 90^* C, more preferably between 76 and 87 C, and the time of contact is preferably between 1 and 1 minutes, more preferably between 3 and 7 minutes.

Other variables investigated had relatively little effect on the results. No difference in dusting tendency was observed between final drying at roo .temperature and at 121° C for from 10 to 15 minutes. Also, no difference in dusting tendency was apparent when phosphate conversion coating levels were varied from 10.8 to 21.6 grams per square meter ("g/m²") . There was a slight increase in dusting tendency when the phosphate coating was as light as 3 g/m², so that it is preferred that the phosphate coating exceed that value.

The practice of the invention may be further appreciated with the help of the following non-limiting operating examples and comparison examples. General Conditions for All the Examples and Comparative Examples

The temperature of the lubricating solutions was maintained at 79° C, and phosphated metal specimens were contacted with the solution for 5 minutes, then dried for 15 minutes in an oven maintained at between 88 and 99° C. The test specimens were Type 1010 cold rolled steel that had been conventionally alkaline cleaned, pickled in sul¬ furic acid, and phosphated by use of one of the commercial zinc phosphating solutions available from the Parker+A chem Division of Henkel Corporation, Madison Heights, Michigan, under the trade mark Bonderite™. Two different types of Bonderite™ were used, in solutions maintained with a total acid number of 35 points, with no significant difference in the results as reported below. (Points in this instance are defined as the number of milliliters of 0.1 N NaOH solution required to titrate a 5 ml sample of the phosphating solution to a phenolph- thalein end point.) The average phosphate coating weight was 12 grams per square meter of surface (hereinafter "g/m²") for all the panels.

The free acid content of the lubricating solutions was measured according to the following procedure: Free Acid Pour 200 ml of a solution of 0.2 weight percent phenolphthalein in isopropyl alcohol into a 400 ml beaker, then add a 10 ml sample of hot lubricating solution, measured with a conical graduate or a pipet. Heat the mixture in the beaker to boiling, and boil for at least one minute. Remove from heat and titrate immediately, while the solution is still hot, with 0.1 N NaOH solution if the solution is clear rather than pink, to the development of a permanent, faint pink. The ml of titrating solution required is the number of "points" of free acid. If the solution is already pink after boiling, titrate with 0.1 N sulfuric acid instead to the permanent disappearance of the pink color. The number of ml of acid is then the points of free alkalinity.

The Babcock Number of the lubricating solutions wa measured by^'the following method:

Pour 10 ml of a solution of 0.2 weight percent phenolphthalein in 2-propanol into a 50 ml beaker, then add an accurately measured 10 ml sample of the hot lubricating solution to be measured, mix thoroughly and heat to boiling. Filter through a fast filter paper such as Whatman 541 into a Babcock test bottle with a graduated neck. Wash the beaker and filter paper with a second 10 ml amount of a solution of 0.2 weight percent phenolphthalein in 2- propanol that has been heated to boiling just before use. Discard the filter paper. Place the Babcock bottle into a boiling water bath for at least 30 min to drive off all the 2- propanol introduced. Then add 20 ml of a solution of 50 weight percent sulfuric acid in water to the Babcock bottle. Swirl the bottle to mix its contents and heat the flask and contents in a boiling water bath until a distinct oily layer has formed on top of the liquid in the flask. Add hot water to the flask if necessary to bring the top and bottom of the oily top layer within the graduated portion of the neck of the bottle. The differ¬ ence between the graduation values for the upper and lower edges of the oily top layer is the Babcock Number for the sample. The Babcock number corresponds to the volume percent of oily material produced by acidifying the 10 ml sample of the lubricating solution. Each Babcock unit corresponds to 2 volume percent of fatty acids in the lubricating solution. The positions of the upper and lower edges of the oily layer should be read while the bottle is still immersed in a boiling water bath, to avoid errors that result from rapid cooling when the bottle is removed from the bath.

Coating weights and other related characteristics o the samples are defined and/or were determined a follows:

Wl = Weight (in grams) of panel and phosphat coating.

W2 = Weight (in grams) of panel, phosphate coating and lube coating after exposure to lubricatin solution.

W3 = Weight (in grams) of panel after exposure t phosphating and lubricating solutions, followe by water strip.

Water strip: Immerse panel in boilin deionized water, in sufficient volume t provide at least about 4.3 ml of water pe square centimeter of panel surface, fo three minutes. Remove panel and rinse b immersion in a similar volume of boilin deionized water for three minutes. Rem rinsed panel and dry in oven, cool ambient temperature, and weigh.

W4 - Weight (in grams) of panel after exposure

5 phosphating and lubricating solutions, follo by water strip as above and solvent strip.

Solvent Strip: Place panel in extract portion of a Soxhlet or similar extrac that accumulates freshly distilled solv

10 in a container to a specified level, t drains the accumulated solvent, repeats the cycle. Make sure all pan loaded are completely covered when container is filled to just below 15 level that produces drainage. Extract at least 30 minutes with condensate fro vigorously refluxing mixture of 55 wei percent isopropyl alcohol, 32 wei percent n-heptane, and the balance 20 ethoxyethanol. Remove panel, dry in ov cool to ambient temperature, and weigh. W5 = Weight (in grams) of panel after exposure phosphating and lubricating solutions, follow by water strip and solvent strip as specifi 25 above and then by chromic acid strip.

Chromic Acid Strip: Prepare solution dissolving 800 g of Cr0₃ in sufficie water to make 4 liters. Heat solution 82^* C and maintain at that temperatu 30 with stirring and thermostatic contro

Immerse panel for 5 minutes. Remove pan from hot solution, rinse quickly in co water, dry with clean compressed air, a weigh. Surface Area is measured in square meters. fWl — W4)

A) Conversion coating loss = _si_rJ_{ace A}i__ea

B) Nonreacted lube = f^w? ^{" W3})— ' Surface Area

C)' Reacted lube = Su^Vrlfac ^"e^WA^r—ea fW4 - W5.

D) Residual Conversion coating = _{s rface Area}

E) Total lube = Nonreacted lube + Reacted lube.

Corrosion susceptibility of the lubricant coate samples was measured according to American Society fo Testing Materials Standard Procedure D2247-87. Result are reported below according to the following scale, fro visual observation of the amount of red and/or whit corrosion on the sample tested:

Ratine. Symbol

RIO R9.5

R9

R8

R7

R6

R5 80 - 100

The dusting tendency was measured by the followin procedure: A square of dark colored velour material 6. centimeters ("cm") long on each side was placed i contact with a dried lubricant-coated panel to be tested The panel was 15 cm long, and the square of velour wa initially placed at the top center of the panel. cylindrical weight with a mass of 1 kilogram and diameter of about 5 cm was placed in the center of th square of velour and the latter was pulled along th remaining length of the panel while the weight remaine in place. After this traverse of the panel, the li colored dust from the lubricant coating, if prese could easily be seen against the dark velour. The amo of such dust present was rated on a scale of 1 to with 1 corresponding to no visible dust and 10 complete coverage of the velour within the circular a on which the weight had rested during its traverse of panel.

The ease of drawing was measured on a "LUB" mo draw test machine manufactured by Detroit Testing Mach

Company, Detroit, Michigan. A 1/2 inch die was used clamping forces up to 6000 pounds at increments of 2 pounds. The force required for drawing was read direc from instruments on the machine.

Example 1

A base lubricant solution concentrate was prepa by first mixing 154 parts by weight ("PBW") of 50 aqueous sodium hydroxide with 359 PBW of additional wat and heating the solution to about 75* C. To this mixtu was added while stirring, from a melt tank, 526 PBW of high quality technical grade stearic acid containi > 95% by weight of C₁₈ fatty acid(s), < 3% of C₁₆ fat acid(s) , and < 1% of combined C₁₅ and C₁₇ fatty acid(s While the melted fatty acids were being added, 5 PBW pine oil was simultaneously added, from anoth container, to the mixture with stirring. The mixture w held at temperature with continued mixing until about PBW of water had been lost by evaporation. The mixtu was then allowed to cool, forming a friable sol product, containing approximately 57 weight perce sodium salt of fatty acids.

To prepare the base lubricating solutions not below, an amount of the sodium stearate concentra prepared as described above was dissolved in water, at temperature in the range of 74 - 94°C in the amounts 60-90 g/L noted in the Table 1 below, to which was th added the amounts of oleic acid and NaOH noted to provi a mixture of sodium stearate and sodium oleate soa having a Babcock Number of about 2-3 which were th evaluated for dust tendency as described above. T composition of the lubricants evaluated can be seen fr the following Table IA and the results of dusti evaluation seen from Table IB.

As can be seen from the foregoing, the total d level decreases with increased amounts of the sod oleate with amounts of above about 5% up to about based on the amount of sodium stearate being the m desirable. Based on the total amount of fatty a soaps, and a total soap level of less than 80 g/L, level of about 10-22% by weight provides the m desirable results.

Example g In this example the ease of drawing was measured o "LUB" model draw test machine as noted earlier w clamping forces up to 6000 pounds. The force of draw in pounds is read directly from instruments on machine. In the first "LUB" test with a 1/2 inch die, 75 g/L sodium stearate concentrate as described earlier employed on metal having a zinc phosphate conversi coating and compared with the same sodium stearate which was added 7.5 g/L of oleic acid and sufficie sodium hydroxide to neutralize the oleic acid. T sodium stearate lubricant had a dust rating of 10 and t stearate plus oleate lubricant had a dust rating of The draw force and clamping force in lbs. were follows:

17

Clamping Force (LbS)

1600 1800 2000 2200 2400 2600 2800 3000 3200 3400 3600 3800 4000

4200 335 4400 385 4600 380 4800 430 5000 520 5250 510 5500 635

Example 3

In this example another "LUB" test was run again w a 1/2 inch die on zinc phosphate conversion coated me using sodium stearate concentrate as described earli The samples tested were two sets, one employing an solution of sodium stearate concentrate used previou at a level of 90 g/L compared to the same steara lubricant to which was added 5.6 g/L of sodium oleate ( sodium oleate, not oleic acid and sodium hydroxide) . second set was carried out using a freshly prepa sodium stearate lubricant (prepared as earlier described at a level of 90 g/L compared to the same freshl prepared sodium stearate lubricant to which was added 5. g/L sodium oleate (as sodium oleate) . The dust rating o the old stearate lubricant was 7, while the old plus th added sodium oleate was 3. The dust rating of th freshly prepared sodium stearate was 10, while th freshly prepared lubricant to which sodium oleate wa added provided a dust rating of 3. All solutions had Babcock Number of 3.

The draw force and clamping results can be seen i the following Table 3.

From the foregoing it can be seen that the dust ratings are significantly improved by the addition of the sodium oleate to a stearate lubricant composition. From

Table 3, a significant improvement in drawing is particularly noted with the old, aged lubricant.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. In a water soluble lubricant for cold worki of a metal surface comprising a fatty acid so component, the improvement wherein said fatty acid so component consists essentially of a mixture of:

(A) a water soluble alkali metal soap of saturated fatty acid having 8 to 22 carb atoms and

(B) a water soluble alkali metal soap of unsaturated fatty acid in an amount effecti to reduce the dusting tendency of said met surface after coating and drying of sa lubricant.

2. A lubricant as defined in claim 1 wherein sa fatty acid soap of said unsaturated fatty acid is prese in an amount of up to 25% by weight of said fatty ac soap component.

3. A lubricant as defined in claim 2 wherein sa amount is about 5 to 22%.

4. A lubricant as defined in claim 2 wherein sa amount is about 10 to 22%.

5. A lubricant as defined in claim 1 wherein sa saturated fatty acid and said unsaturated fatty acid is

C₁₈ fatty acid.

6. A lubricant as defined in claim 5 wherein sa unsaturated fatty acid is oleic acid and said saturat fatty acid is stearic acid.

7. A lubricant as defined in claim 6 wherein sa oleic acid soap is present in an amount of about 10 to weight percent of said fatty acid soap component.

8. A composition which can be mixed with water form a liquid working lubricant composition having a not greater than 11, for coating a metal surface reduce the frictional resistance encountered during co working of the metal surface, comprising water in amount to dissolve a fatty acid soap component, sa fatty acid soap component consisting essentially of mixture of :

(A) an alkali metal soap of a saturated fa acid having from 8 to 22 carbon atoms and

(B) a alkali metal soap of an unsaturated fat acid having from 8 to 22 carbon atoms in amount effective to reduce the dusti tendency of said metal surface after coati and drying of said lubricant.

9. A composition as defined in claim 8 where said alkali metal soap of said saturated fatty acid sodium stearate.

10. A composition as defined in claim 8 where said alkali metal soap of said unsaturated fatty acid sodium oleate.

11. A composition as defined in claim 10 where said sodium oleate is present in an amount of about 5 22% by weight of said fatty acid soap component.

12. A composition as defined in claim 11 where said sodium oleate is present in an amount of abo 10-22% and said alkali metal soap of said saturated fat acid is sodium stearate.

13. A liquid composition for applying a lubrica coating to a metal surface to reduce the friction resistance encountered during cold working of the met surface, said liquid composition having a pH not great than 11 and consisting essentially of water and:

(A) from about 5 - about 150 g/L of a wate soluble fatty acid component consisti essentially of a mixture of: (1) an alkali metal salt of a saturat fatty acid having 8 to 22 carbon ato with

(2) an alkali metal salt of an unsaturate fatty acid having 8 to 22 carbon ato in an amount of about 2.5% to 25% b weight of said fatty acid component; an optionally, one or more of a component selected from t group consisting of:

(B) a water-soluble film forming polymer;

(C) a corrosion inhibitor component; and (D) a complexing agent for heavy metal ions.

14. A composition as defined in claim 13 where said composition has a pH not greater than 10 and a fr acid value from about 0.3 to about 0.6 points.

15. A composition according to claim 13, where the weight of component (B) is from about 2 to about 2 of the weight of component (A) .

16. A composition according to claim 14, where the weight of component (C) is from about 0.9 to abo 8.6% of the weight of component (A) .

17. A composition as defined in claim 13 where said alkali metal salt of said saturated fatty acid sodium stearate and said alkali metal salt of sa unsaturated fatty acid is sodium oleate.

18. A composition as defined in claim 17 where said sodium oleate is present in an amount of about 5

25% by weight of said fatty acid component.

19. A composition as defined in claim 17 where said sodium oleate is present in an amount of about 10 22% by weight of said fatty acid component.

20. A process for reducing the friction resistance encountered during cold working of a met surface, wherein the improvement comprises contacti said metal surface, at a sufficient temperature for sufficient time to deposit a film effective for fricti reduction on said metal surface, with the liqui composition defined in claim 13 thereby providing reduce dusting tendency of said metal surface after coating a drying of said liquid composition.