One of the most economical, and therefore commonly used machining processes for hole making is conventional drilling. However, hole quality, surface damage, process efficiency, and tool life are severely affected by problems such as excessive forces, process dynamics, and chatter, drill breakage, burr formation, regrinding errors, and process faults. Traditionally, these problems have been overcome by trial-and-error methods through drill point re-design and extensive testing. Such an approach is time consuming, expensive, and lacks a rigorous theoretical basis. A more comprehensive, scientifically-based method that provides useful computer-aided engineering tools to evaluate process performance in terms of the quality characteristics of the drilled hole is offered by this project. A computer integrated environment for the modeling and performance valuation of the drilling process and hole quality, expressed in terms of location accuracy, diametral tolerance, roundness, and straightness will be developed. Using both first principles and data-driven approaches, a drill performance prediction model that accounts for the dependence of hole quality of drilling process faults, dynamic effects (initial skidding and wandering), deflection and vibration within the hole, temperature effects, and deformations imposed by static and dynamic loads will be established. A closed-loop environment facilitating a quick turnaround in customized drill development will be represented by the model, and the foundation to supply the user with optimal technological information related to the drilling process will be developed. The models for hole quality that emerge from this research will undergo extensive experimental evaluation in controlled laboratory environments at all three of the participating institutions. Scientific contributions of the project include theoretical advances in the modeling of phenomena that drive the quality of the drilled hole, including both mechanical and thermal distortions as they are influenced by the force system created during the drilling process.
