Analysis of the Performance of Drilling Operations for Improving Productivity

Abstract

Drilling is a vital machining process for many industries. Automotive and aerospace industries are among those industries which produce millions of holes where productivity, quality, and precision of drilled holes plays a vital role in their success. Therefore, a proper selection of machine tools and equipment, cutting tools and parameters is detrimental in achieving the required dimensional accuracy and surface roughness. This subsequently helps industries achieving success and improving the service life of their products. This chapter provides an introduction to the drilling process in manufacturing industries which helps improve the quality and productivity of drilling operations on metallic materials. It explains the advantages of using multi-spindle heads to improve the productivity and quality of drilled holes. An analysis of the holes produced by a multi-spindle head on aluminum alloys Al2024, Al6061, and Al5083 is presented in comparison to traditional single shot drilling. Also the effects of using uncoated carbide and high speed steel tools for producing high-quality holes in the formation of built-up edges and burrs are investigated and discussed.