Enhancing Productivity by Means of High Feed Rate in the Drilling of Al 2011 Aluminium Alloy

Drilling is one of the most popular machining operations in industry. It is employed for manufacturing a large number of materials (e.g. steel, aluminium, and composite) and in various sectors (e.g. aeronautic, automotive, and medical). Nowadays, increasing productivity and reducing costs, without compromising the quality of the products, are two main objectives for most manufacturing companies. In machining, the increase in the feed rate can cause the reduction in the cutting time and, thus, increase productivity. Based on that, the present work analyses the use of high feed rates in the drilling of Al 2011 aluminium alloy. For that purpose, the diameter and surface roughness obtained with the tool feed rate recommended by the manufacturer (conventional feed) and high feed, in both dry and wet conditions, were compared. In general, the use of high feed improves surface roughness, mainly in wet condition. When comparing the optimal condition for both conventional and high feed processes, the diameter of the hole did not present significant variation. However, the surface roughness was lower with the high feed, between 26.7 and 81.6%, diminishing the cutting time by 84.3%.