Evaluation of CFRP Hole Quality in Low Frequency Vibration-Assisted Dry Drilling of CFRP/Ti Stacks

Low frequency vibration assisted drilling (LFVAD) is regarded as one of the most promising process in CFRP/Ti stacks drilling. This work carries the investigation of the difference between conventional drilling and LFVAD based on kinematic model. The experiments are conducted under varied vibration amplitude to a specific feed rate, also under varying spindle speeds, feed rates when the ratio of amplitude to feed rate is fixed. Then the hole quality of CFRP is evaluated based on the analysis of drilling force, chip morphology, chip extraction. The results show that there is rarely no difference between conventional drilling and LFVAD in drilling mechanism when the drilling diameter is over 1 mm. Because the impact effect caused by drill vibration is already weak. It is found that the severe mechanical damage of the CFRP holes surface could be significantly reduced due to the fragmented chips obtained in vibration drilling. The maximum instantaneous feed rate combined with feed rate and amplitude plays a significant role in CFRP hole quality. Lower maximum instantaneous feed rate results in better hole wall quality and less entry delamination. Spindle speed has no visible influence on entry delamination, while higher spindle speed improves the hole surface quality due to the resin coating phenomenon.