Study on micro drilling of printed circuit board using DLC coated drill

In recent years, needs for micro drilling are increasing, accompanying the development of higher wiring density of printed circuit board (PCB). When drilling PCB for the purpose of making the electric through holes, it has been said that the drill breakage is caused by being filled the chips of GFRP and copper of PCB in the drill flutes. The aim of this study is to clarify the effect of PCB drilling using DLC coated drill on tool wear, chip evacuation and cutting torque. Series of drilling tests of PCB have been carried out to investigate the amount of drill wear, the chips evacuation behavior out of drilled hole with the drill, the shape of chips produced and the cutting torque using DLC-coated drill and non-coated drill. The chips evacuation behavior out of drilled hole with the drill is filmed by a high-speed motion camera and the shape of chips produced is observed by a microscope. The cutting torque is measured by a dynamometer; Kistler 9329A. The amounts of drill flank wear and margin wear using DLC-coated drill and non-coated drill are almost the same. The chips of GFRP using DLC-coated drill are shorter and smaller than those using non-coated drill. The chips evacuation out of drilled hole with the drill using DLC-coated drill is better than those using non-coated drill, and cutting torque using DLC-coated drill is lower than those using non-coated drill.