Evaluation of Hole Quality in Hardened Steel with High-Speed Drilling Using Different Cooling Systems

This work evaluates the hole quality on AISI H13 hardened steel using high-speed drilling. Specimens were machined with new and worn out drills with 8.6 mm diameter and (TiAl)N coating. Two levels of cutting speed and three levels of cooling/lubrication systems (flooded, minimum lubrication quantity, and dry) were used. The hole quality is evaluated on surface roughness (Ra) parameter, diameter error, circularity, and cylindricity error. A statistical analysis of the results shows that the cooling/lubrication system significantly affects the hole quality for all measured variables. This analysis indicates that dry machining produces the worst results. Higher cutting speeds not only prove beneficial to diameter error and circularity errors, but also show no significant difference on surface roughness and cylindricity errors. The effects of the interaction between the cooling/lubrication systems, tool wear, and cutting speed indicate that only cylindricity error is influenced. Thus, the conclusion is that the best hole quality is produced with a higher cutting speed using flooded or minimum lubrication quantity independent of drill wear.