Design and development of abrasive-assisted drilling process for improvement in surface finish during drilling of metal matrix composites

Abstract

A novel technique called abrasive-assisted drilling has been designed and developed to improve the surface finish of the drilled hole wall during the drilling of Al6063/10%SiC metal matrix composites. The developed process eliminates the use of supplementary surface finishing process such as abrasive flow machining or deburring of drilled hole, which adds to the cost of product. With the help of this technique, fine polished drilled hole wall surface can be produced by removing small fragments of material generated by the high-energy abrasive particles. A considerable increase in surface finish of the drilled hole wall has been observed for metal matrix composites. Taguchi’s methodology has been used to explore the effect of input process parameters on the surface roughness and hole oversize of the drilled hole. The input process parameters under consideration are rotational speed, finishing time, abrasive size and abrasive concentration.