Investigation of the cutting force in ultrasonic vibration assisted drilling of thin wall workpiece

Ultrasonic vibration assisted drilling is a new technique, and one of the modern and promising processes for drilling metals, especially metal alloys with low machinability. In this paper, a set of laboratory tests is used to investigate the effect of using ultrasonic vibrations on the force required for drilling of the thin aluminum specimens. For this purpose, three aluminum workpieces with different thickness are drilled under three different rotation speeds, and four different penetration rates. The results showed that in two aluminum workpieces, 1 and 1.5 mm, the use of ultrasonic vibrations generally reduced the axial force, but in the 2 mm workpiece, it is impossible to understand a meaningful effect of applying ultrasonic vibrations. In other words, it can be said that adding ultrasonic vibrations with constant amplitude and frequency does not have the same effect on drilling in different conditions, and to reach the most efficient drilling; the characteristics of optimal vibration should be studied.