Analysis of Hole Quality and Chips Formation in the Dry Drilling Process of Al7075-T6

Abstract

Millions of holes are produced in many industries where efficient drilling is considered the key factor in their success. High-quality holes are possible with the proper selection of drilling process parameters, appropriate tools, and machine setup. This paper deals with the effects of drilling parameters such as spindle speed and feed rate on the chips analysis and the hole quality like surface roughness, hole size, circularity, and burr formation. Al7075-T6 alloy, commonly used in the aerospace industry, was used for the drilling process, and the dry drilling experiments were performed using high-speed steel drill bits. Results have shown that surface roughness decreased with the increase in spindle speed and increased with the increase in the feed rate. The hole size increased with the high spindle speed, whereas the impact of spindle speed on circularity error was found insignificant. Furthermore, short and segmented chips were achieved at a high feed rate and low spindle speed. The percentage contribution of each input parameter on the output drilling parameters was evaluated using analysis of variance (ANOVA).