Ultrasonic Assisted Drilling (UAD)

Ultrasonic Assisted Drilling (UAD) of aerospace composites

Increasing demands for lightweight, high performance materials has put Carbon Fibre Composite (CFC) and titanium alloys at the forefront in many industries. In drilling, CFC and Ti-alloys are commonly recognized as difficult to machine materials. Therefore, a new alternative to replace the conventional drilling of these materials is highly desirable. Here, we studied Ultrasonic Assisted Drilling (UAD) of CFC/Ti stacks. The UAD technique has shown positive influence to enhance tool wear resistance with a significant reduction in thrust force and torque. The life of Tungsten Carbide (WC) drills has improved by 300 %. Owing to the reduction of titanium adhesion and flank wear, it is possible to decrease cutting temperatures since vibrating the cutting tool during drilling led to improved evacuation of the hot titanium chips from the cutting zone consequently facilitating cutting tool cooling.

To know more about the topic, please read the following publications

Dahnel, A. N., Ascroft, H., Barnes, S., & Gloger, M. (2015). Analysis of tool wear and hole quality during Ultrasonic Assisted Drilling (UAD) of Carbon Fibre Composite (CFC)/titanium alloy (Ti6Al4V) stacks. In ASME 2015 International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition. American Society of Mechanical Engineers Digital Collection.

Dahnel, A. N., Ascroft, H., & Barnes, S. (2016). The effect of varying cutting speeds on tool wear during conventional and ultrasonic assisted drilling (UAD) of carbon fibre composite (CFC) and titanium alloy stacks. Procedia Cirp46(1), 420-423.

Ascroft, H., Barnes, S., Dahnel, A. N., Gupta, A., Nor Farah Huda, A. H., & Ray, D. (2016, July). Ultrasonic assisted machining. In UMTIK 2016 The 17th International Conference on Machine Design and Production, Conference proceedings (Vol. 1, pp. 15-30).