Experimental Analysis of Drilling Forces and Edge Defects in SiCp/Al Composites Using PCD Drills

Abstract SiCp/Al composites have become widely applied in electronics, automobiles and other fields, the drilling process has an important impact on its application and reliable performance. This study presents a novel experimental investigation into the drilling forces and edge flaws encountered when drilling SiCp/Al composites with PCD drills. The experimental findings demonstrated that the drilling velocity did not have a substantial impact on the thrust drilling forces, but the thrust drilling forces increased with the increase in feed rate. The flaws located at the edge formation were linked to the change in thrust drilling force. The entry edge defectswere mainly caused by crack growth under compressive stress, which including small macro fracture notches, SiC particles shed and brittle fracture and plastic bulge. The exit edge defectswere mainly created by the debonding of SiC particles and matrix under tensile stress. Macroscopically, exit edge defects were mainly annular along the edge of the hole. Microscopically, exit edge defects contained the fracture, shedding of SiC particles and the ductile fracture of the matrix.The effect of drilling speed on the entry and exit edge defects was not significant, but the entry edge defects and exit edge defect increased significantly with higher feed rate. The aim of this review is to improve the mach-inability of drilling SiCp/Al composite materials.