A study on the ultrasonic vibration on the cutting performance during ultrasonic-assisted drilling of CFRP with twist and dagger drill bits

During the drilling process of carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP), defects such as exit delamination, tearing, and burrs are prone to occur, among which excessive axial force during drilling is the main reason for the generation of exit delamination defects. In this study, ultrasonic-assisted and conventional drilling with twist and dagger drills were investigated on 5 mm-thick multi-directional laminated fiber sheets made of T300-12k/AG80 carbon fiber composite with different orientations. The axial force evolutions in each case were monitored when drilling holes in CFRP plates, and the axial force of drilling and the appearance characteristics of hole outlet were compared. The experimental results showed that the ultrasonic assisted drilling reduced the axial drilling forces of twist and dagger drill by up to 20.6% and 30.7%, respectively, compared to conventional drills. In addition, as the feed rate increases, the axial force of drilling gradually increases, and the exit delamination factor shows an overall increasing trend. The ultrasonic vibrations reduced the exit delamination damage of both drills. A special structure of the dagger drill effectively avoided exit delamination during ultrasonic-assisted drilling, which makes the incision more neat to improve the processing quality.