Experimental investigation of hole quality and chip analysis during the dry drilling process of Al6061-T6

Abstract

High-quality holes in the drilling process are possible by selecting appropriate cutting parameters, proper machine setup and tools. The current study examines how drilling parameters like spindle speed and feed rate affect the formation of chips as well as hole quality, including hole size, circularity, and surface roughness of Al6061-T6. HSS drill bits were used in dry drilling experiments. The results showed that hole size and circularity are increased with the high spindle speed and feed rate. While the high spindle speed and low feed rate result in low surface roughness. Analysis of variance indicates that the hole size was highly affected by feed rate, having a contribution of 61.58 % compared with spindle speed with a contribution of 36.12 %. Moreover, the contribution of feed rate on circularity is 69.30 % greater than the effect of spindle speed at 28.48 %. In contrast, the spindle speed has a high influence of 56.84 % on surface roughness, than the feed rate with 42.13 %. The outcome also demonstrated that short, segmented chips could be produced at low spindle speeds and high feed rates.