Comparison of Thrust Force in Ultrasonic Assisted Drilling and Conventional Drilling of Aluminum Alloy

The origin of drilling force in drilling with twist drill is quite complicated owning to the complex shape of the drill bit cutting edges. In this paper, the drilling experiments both with and without the ultrasonic were designed and conducted on aluminum alloy with pre-drilled hole. The drilling force was tested and the different effects between the cutting edges of the twist drill on the drilling force were analyzed under various drilling parameters including the spindle speed, feed rate and vibration amplitude. The drilling force of conventional drilling (CD) and ultrasonic assisted drilling (UAD) was characterized and the roles of the ultrasonic vibration in drilling were discussed.