权利要求:
24CLAIMS1. An aqueous lubricating composition comprising, based on the weight of the composition: from 1 to 20 wt.% of a) at least one water-soluble inorganic salt, said inorganic salt or salts being in a dissolved state; b) at least one particulate solid lubricant; from 0.1 to 5 wt.% of c) at least one rheological control agent; from 0.1 to 5 wt.% of d) at least one base; and, from 0.1 to 5 wt.% of e) at least one surfactant selected from the group consisting of anionic surfactants, nonionic surfactants, cationic surfactants, amphoteric surfactants and zwitterionic surfactants, wherein said composition is free from boron and boron compounds and is further characterized in that the ratio by weight of b) said at least one solid lubricant to a) said at least one water-soluble inorganic salt [(b):(a)] is from 0.1 :1 to 1 :1.2. The aqueous lubricating composition according to claim 1 comprising, based on the weight of the composition from 2 to 20 wt.%, preferably from 5 to 20 wt.% of a) said at least one water-soluble inorganic salt; b) said least one particulate solid lubricant; from 0.1 to 2.5 wt.%, preferably from 0.1 to 2 wt.% of c) said least one rheological control agent; from 0.1 to 2.5 wt.%, preferably from 0.1 to 2 wt.% of d) said least one base; and, from 0.1 to 2.5 wt.%, preferably from 0.1 to 2 wt.% of e) said at least one surfactant selected from the group consisting of anionic surfactants, nonionic surfactants, cationic surfactants, amphoteric surfactants and zwitterionic surfactants, wherein said composition is free from boron and boron compounds and is further characterized in that the ratio by weight of b) said at least one solid lubricant to a) said at least one water-soluble inorganic salt [(b):(a)] is from 0.1 :1 to 1 :1 , preferably from 0.2:1 to 1 :1.3. The aqueous lubricating composition according to claim 1 or claim 2 comprising from 60 to 90 wt.%, preferably from 65 to 85 wt.%, more preferably from 65 to 80 wt.% of water, based on the weight of the composition.4. The aqueous lubricating composition according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the composition is characterized by a viscosity of from 0.005 to 1 Pa s, as measured using a Brookfield viscometer at 25°C.The aqueous lubricating composition according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the total amount of rheological control agent(s) c) included in the composition is from 1 to 10 wt.%, preferably from 2 to 8 wt.% of the total amount by weight of components a) and b). The aqueous lubricating composition according to any one of claims 1 to 5 having a pH of from 7 to 10, preferably from 7 to 9. The aqueous lubricating composition according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein component a) comprises a mixture of sodium sulphate, potassium tripolyphosphate and sodium tripolyphosphate. The aqueous lubricating composition according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the or each solid particulate lubricant included in the composition is characterized by a dso particle size of less than 5 microns, as measured by laser diffraction. The aqueous lubricating composition according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein said component b) comprises: at least one phosphate salt selected from the group consisting of zinc phosphate, zinc calcium phosphate and manganese phosphate; and, at least one wax selected from the group consisting of: polyethylene waxes; oxidized polyethylene waxes; polypropylene waxes; oxidized polypropylene waxes; and, co- polymeric waxes based on ethylene or propylene as the majority monomers, further wherein said at least one wax is characterized by a number average molecular weight (Mn) of from 400 to 30,000 g/mol, preferably from 1000 to 25,000 g/mol. The aqueous lubricating composition according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein c) said at least one rheological control agent is selected from the groups consisting of: cellulose derivatives; and, polysaccharides. The aqueous lubricating composition according to claim 10, wherein component c) comprises carboxymethycellulose (CMC) and xanthan gum. The aqueous lubricating composition according to any one of claims 1 to 11 , wherein d) said at least one base is selected from the group consisting of: bis(2-(N,N’- dimethylamino)ethyl)ether; bis-(t-butylaminoethyl)ether, 1 ,2-bis-(t- butylaminoethoxy)ethane; 1 ,2-bis-(t-butylaminoethoxyethoxy)ethane; bis[2- (isopropylamino)propyl]ether; 1 ,2-[2-isopropylamino)-propoxy]ethane. The aqueous lubricating composition according to claim 12, wherein component d) comprises or consists of bis(2-(N,N’-dimethylamino)ethyl)ether.The use of the aqueous waterborne lubricating composition as defined in any one of claims 1 to 13 or of a dried film obtained therefrom in the plastic cold working of metallic substrates. A process for the plastic cold working of a solid metallic substrate by mechanically forcing said solid metallic substrate through an aperture bounded by at least one solid surface of at least one metal working tool, said process comprising the steps of: i) applying the aqueous lubricating composition as defined in any one of claims 1 to 13 to at least one solid surface of said metallic substrate, which surface or surfaces would, if not coated, directly contact a solid metal working tool surface during the process; ii) drying the applied aqueous lubricating composition to form a film on said at least one solid surface of said metallic substrate; and(iii) mechanically forcing the metallic substrate formed in step ii) through said aperture bounded by at least one metal working tool surface, so that the metallic substrate is cold worked.