A modified tool design for the drilling of high-performance aerospace materials

Abstract

Abstract High-performance Ni- and Ti-based materials are generally difficult to machine. Drilling in particular is highly demanding for the applied tools due to challenging thermal stress. This paper describes a novel modification for twist drills which significantly improves the cooling and lubrication of the main and secondary cutting edges and leads to an enhancement in process productivity. Within the scope of this work, the achievable improvements with regard to wear progress, cutting edge temperature and cutting fluid flow when machining Inconel 718 are analysed. The solution developed could also prove its efficiency in the machining of titanium-based alloy Ti6Al4V.