Experimental study on ultrasonic vibration‐assisted drilling performance of carbon fiber polyetherketoneketone laminate

Abstract Parts made from carbon fiber reinforced polyetherketoneketone (CF/PEKK) primarily use mechanical connections during assembly, where the quality of hole processing directly impacts the connection strength. However, defects like delamination, burrs, and fiber pull‐out frequently occur during drilling. While existing research focuses on optimizing conventional drilling (CD) and helical milling (HM), ultrasonic vibration‐assisted drilling (UVAD) shows superior performance in reducing thrust force and defects. This study experimentally evaluates the hole‐making performance of CF/PEKK using the UVAD method. It examines the effects of ultrasonic vibration on thrust force, drilling temperature, processing damage, chip morphology, and surface microstructure, and discusses the damage suppression mechanism. The results show that the UVAD method significantly reduces thrust force and drilling temperature compared to the CD method, with similar trends in delamination and burr damage. This study demonstrates that using the UVAD method for drilling CF/PEKK laminates effectively reduces thrust force, drilling temperature, and machining damage, thereby significantly improving processing quality. The material removal mechanism of UVAD was analyzed, offering substantial insights and practical guidance for the efficient drilling of CF/PEKK laminates. Highlights The drilling performance of CF/PEKK was studied. The drilling quality of UVAD and CD is compared by experiments. UVAD has a lower thrust force and drilling temperature. UVAD can reduce machining damage and improve machining quality.