DigiDrill - Vibrational drilling for improved hole quality of stacked materials

Purpose and goal

A prototype of a vibration drill spindle has been designed and manufactured and the servo system has been commissioned. Initial test drilling and testing have been conducted and shown successful results. The solution includes software that allows cutting data for various stacked materials and logging drilling positions and frequencies that enable the optimization of the drilling process to ensure uniform hole quality. The drill unit, which is fully adjustable in all process parameters independently of each other, has been drilled into a test rig with promising results.

Expected results and effects

During test drilling in test rig, the results were: the function works as intended for the counter-reaction of forces. When analyzing the frequency of the amplitude and the length of the chip, it can works as expected. The drilling movement synchronizes well with the program´s cutting data and has been analyzed with the control system´s internal data. The drilling unit has been tested in a rig with promising results. A unit like this is a prerequisite for succeeding with the aviation industry´s objective towards "one way assembly", which has the potential to reduce assembly costs.

Planned approach and implementation

In general, the project could be carried out according to plan and the desired results. However, some delays were caused by e.g. testing and delivery of critical equipment. Partly because of unforeseen problems that arose during the first tests but could later be solved. The test results and evaluation of the test method have been compiled in a confidential report.