International Journal of Refractory Metals & Hard Materials 78 (2019) 32–44

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International Journal of Refractory Metals

& Hard Materials
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/IJRMHM

Performance of cryogenically treated WC drill using tool wear T

measurements on the cutting edge and hole surface topography when
drilling CFRP
⁎
D. Samuel Raj , L. Karunamoorthy
Department of Mechanical Engineering, CEG, Anna University, Chennai, India

A R T I C LE I N FO A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Drilling CFRP poses major challenges from the perspective of rapid tool wear and poor hole quality, with the
CFRP drilling development of higher strength fibers further accentuating these problems. Cryogenic treatment is one way of
Cryogenic treatment increasing tool hardness thereby improving tool life and hole quality through longer retention of cutting edge
Cutting edge flatting sharpness. In this study, tool wear is monitored by measuring flank wear, cutting edge flatting (CEF), peak
Peak flatting
flatting (PF) and cutting edge surface roughness (CESR). While flank wear is unable to distinguish the better
Cutting edge surface roughness
Hole surface finish
performance of the cryo-treated drill from the untreated drill, the other wear parameters are able to account for
the better hole quality (exit delamination) produced by this drill. CEF and PF are direct measures of the extent of
cutting edge blunting unlike flank wear which measures wear along the flank due to rubbing. Fiber pullout is the
primary reason for deterioration in surface finish and Rz and Rv are better measures than Ra in estimating
surface quality.

1. Introduction
The proportion of composite materials in the aircrafts of this gen-
eration is more than four times that of the previous generation ones.
This is mainly due to their high strength combined with light weight,
good corrosion resistance and other desirable properties. In today's
competitive environment, structural weight savings leading to better
fuel economy, greater load carrying capacity and reduced carbon
footprint make carbon fiber plastics an exciting prospect for aerospace,
automotive, energy, electronics and other industries [1]. The differ-
ences among these materials in terms of resin, fiber diameter, fiber
fabric, layup, fiber-volume fraction, curing temperature, etc., pose
major challenges in their design and manufacture. While composite
materials are manufactured to complex shapes by bonding, they must
be attached to other structural members (made of composites or metals)
using fasteners. This necessitates drilling holes in these materials [1,2].
The alternate engagement of the cutting tool with the relatively soft,
tough matrix and strong, abrasive fibers makes their machining a
challenge which should be overcome differently from that of homo-
genous metals. Splintering/fraying, matrix heating, delamination due
to the layered structure, etc., are some of the problems encountered
when machining composites [3,4]. While the difficulty to machine
them has increased with the development of stronger and stiffer carbon
fibers, the demand for better cutting tool performance and machined
quality has also increased. This requires cutting tools which can match
these demands while being economical.
Hole quality has always been one of the primary concerns in drilling
CFRP mainly because of the rapid abrasive wear to which the drill is
subjected to. Tool wear has been found to be directly related to dete-
rioration in hole quality [5–7]. Improvement in tool life has been at-
tempted by optimizing process parameters, modified cutting tool de-
signs, coatings, changed process mechanics, etc., [1].
Hole quality (edge and exit) is affected by the geometry of the
cutting edge. Parabolic drills, double margin drills, brad point drills,
multi-faceted drills, dagger drills, step drills etc., [2,5,8,9] are some of
the special drill geometries which, are commercially available/have
been analyzed for machining these materials.
Hocheng and Tsao [5,9] studied the performance of drill bits of
special geometry (saw drill, candle stick drill, core drill, step drill) on
delamination produced during drilling of composite materials. They
found that distribution of the cutting forces along the total cutting edge,
instead of concentration at the center allows using higher feed rates
without producing delamination. There have also been specific re-
commendations regarding the tool angles which provide better per-
formance [10].
Schulze, et al. [7] were able to achieve improved hole quality with

⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: samuelraj@annauniv.edu (D. Samuel Raj), karun@annauniv.edu (L. Karunamoorthy).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrmhm.2018.08.011
Received 14 July 2018; Accepted 20 August 2018
Available online 23 August 2018
0263-4368/ © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
D. Samuel Raj, L. Karunamoorthy International Journal of Refractory Metals & Hard Materials 78 (2019) 32–44

standard milling cutters by directing the process forces inwards using Table 1
two different strategies - combined circular milling and spiral milling Laminate properties.
and wobble milling respectively. They were able to observe reduced Composite Properties Method
workpiece damage. Bonnet et al. [11] studied the distribution of local
feed force on the cutting edge and correlated it to delamination. Since Tensile Strength 1449 MPa DIN EN ISO 527
Tensile Modulus 126 GPa DIN EN ISO 527
the feed force depends on fiber orientation, they proposed suitable ply
Compressive Strength 809 MPa ASTM D694
sequences to restrict the force concentration and thereby delamination. Compressive Modulus 107 GPa ASTM D695
Poutord et al. [12,13] made a similar attempt when drilling Ti6Al4V
and CFRP. The increase in the forces along the cutting edge length due
to drill wear was clearly shown.
Surface roughness, which is an important criterion of machining
quality in metals, is usually not accorded the same level of importance
in CFRP drilling mainly because of the unreliable results due to uncut
fibers [14] and no firm evidence to link surface finish deterioration to
mechanical property changes [8]. The poor surface finish of drilled
holes was attributed to uncut fibers by Ramirez et al. [15]. Studies have
also produced conflicting results regarding the parameter which best
describes the deterioration in surface finish. While, König et al. [14]
considered the average peak to valley height, Rz to be a better para-
meter than the maximum peak to valley height, Rt, Eneyew and Ramulu
[16] concluded that Rt provides a better measure of surface roughness
of the hole. Though there is no “parameter rash” [17] in the case of
drilling composites, a common understanding is yet to be reached.
Tool wear has been another major focus of study in drilling CFRP
with the objective of increasing tool life. Drilling assisted by vibration
[18], drilling using tools coated with diamond, AlTiN [19], AlCrN [18],
and nano-crystalline diamond coatings [20] are some of the means
adopted with varying degrees of success to improve tool life in drilling
Fig. 1. WC drill (point angle 1220) used in the confirmation study.
CFRP. Cryogenic treatment of cutting tools is another option which has
however not been used to a large extent in drilling of CFRP.
Cryogenic treatment of cutting tools has been found to increase the
hardness and wear resistance in the case of high speed steel [21] and
tungsten carbide (WC) cutting tools [22]. Tools are subjected to either
shallow cryogenic treatment (about −80 °C) or deep cryogenic treat-
ment (−180 °C – 190 °C) followed by tempering. Microscopic studies by
Candane et al. [21] revealed that in the case of high speed steels the
increase in hardness and wear resistance was due to the fine carbide
precipitates mainly along the grain boundaries and the reduction in the
percentage of retained austenite. In the case of WC, studies [22,23]
attribute the improved performance to the precipitation of new eta
carbide particles which get uniformly distributed in the microstructure.
Fig. 2. Schematic of cryogenic treatment.
Stewart [24] used cryogenic treatment (−306 °F) for WC tools when
turning medium density fibreboard and compared their performance
with untreated carbide. They were able to observe reduced tool wear It has been shown by Kalsi et al. [23] that cryogenically treated WC
which was attributed to the phase change/crystal structure change of inserts when turning AISI 1040 steel had lesser flank wear due to the
the cobalt binder resulting in higher retention of cobalt binder during densification of the cobalt binder which held the WC particles more
cutting. SreeramaReddy et al. [25] were able to get better performance firmly and the formation of secondary carbides. Inserts subjected to
(lower cutting forces, lesser flank wear, better surface finish and higher three tempering cycles after the cryogenic treatment performed slightly
tool life) when machining C45 steel with cryogenically treated WC in- better than the ones subjected to one and two cycles. Zhang et al. [27]
serts. were not able to observe any obvious change in the size of the WC
Özbek et al. [22] studied the performance of cryogenically treated particles due to cryogenic treatment. However, there was a small in-
(−145 °C) cemented carbide inserts for different holding times (12, 24, crease in hardness which was attributed to the changes happening to
36, 48, 60 h). They were able to get the best wear performance for 24 h the β-phase cobalt matrix.
time duration due to increased hardness and improved microstructure A common thread in all the studies involving cryogenic treatment of
though 12 h treated tools were also able to deliver almost similar im- WC cutting tools is the improvement in tool hardness which results in
proved wear resistance. The improved performance in general of the better wear resistance. Different reasons are attributed for this hardness
cryo-treated inserts was attributed to the precipitation of η-carbide increase. Previous studies have shown varying levels of increase in
particles, improved hardness, wear resistance and increased thermal hardness/tool life of WC tools due to cryogenic treatment – up to 30%
conductivity. [28,29], 2–21% [25], 20–36% [30], 2–21% [23], up to 29% [22].
Gill et al. [26] studied the wear behavior of coated (TiAlN) WC
inserts subjected to shallow (−111 °C) and deep (−196 °C) cryogenic 1.1. Tool wear
treatment. They found shallow cryogenic treatment to increase the
wear resistance (25.53%), while deep cryogenic treatment resulted in The condition of the cutting edge has a very significant effect on the
reduction of wear resistance compared to untreated carbide inserts. quality of the holes produced during machining composites. All efforts
This was attributed to the weakening of the bonding between the to improve the tool life are from the perspective of retaining the
coating (TiAlN) and the substrate at very low (−196 °C) temperatures. sharpness of the cutting edge. Any tool wear monitoring technique

33
D. Samuel Raj, L. Karunamoorthy International Journal of Refractory Metals & Hard Materials 78 (2019) 32–44

Fig. 3. Tool wear measurement [35].

1800 should therefore be focused on the cutting edge. However, flank wear
1600 1588.38 one of the most commonly used wear criterion measures only the wear
Micro-hardness, HV 1

1485.68
1400 happening to the flank region adjoining the cutting edge and does not
1200 give a direct measure of cutting edge blunting.
1000 Faraz et al. [31] found a new type of cutting edge wear which de-
800 velops independently and simultaneously along with flank wear when
600 drilling CFRP. They called this new phenomenon as cutting edge
400 rounding (CER). They described this characteristic as a measure of
200
sharpness of the cutting edge. The rounding of the cutting edge is due to
0
the abrasion wear along the cutting edge. This wear pattern was ob-
Untreated Cryo-treated
served in four different drills (normal and special geometry) thus jus-
Fig. 4. Micro-hardness of untreated and cryo-treated WC samples. tifying its relevance. There have been studies which have recognized

34
D. Samuel Raj, L. Karunamoorthy
Fig. 5. SEM micrographs (3 min etch using Murakami's reagent).
edge rounding in CFRP drilling [18,19,32]. The problem with CER is
that it requires sophisticated measurement systems like contour testers/
confocal laser scanning microscopes.
Ramirez et al. [15] used a profilometer to measure the “back edge
wear” during CFRP drilling. The wear parameter measured with the
flank face of a reference can be considered as another dimension of the
flank wear. They were also able to observe the chipping of the cutting
edges using this method.
In a recent study, Samuel Raj and Karunamoorthy [33] showed that
wear measurements on the cutting edge using two new parameters,
cutting edge flatting (CEF) and peak flatting (PF) could be carried out
using simple optical measurement systems a parameter called as cutting
edge flatting (CEF) provides a better and direct measure of the loss in
sharpness of the cutting edge and that CEF can be measured using
simple optical measurement systems. CEF is a comprehensive para-
meter which accounts for the rounding of the flank and the wear along
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International Journal of Refractory Metals & Hard Materials 78 (2019) 32–44
the rake face. Similarly, a parameter called as cutting edge surface
roughness (CESR) was introduced to monitor cutting edge chipping,
which is another major mode of tool failure in the case of CFRP drilling
using tungsten carbide (WC) drills [34]. CESR can be effectively used to
monitor the “combing wear” of the cutting edges which result in
slender belt-like grooves along the cutting edge.
The objective of this study is to determine the improvement in tool
hardness and hence tool life due to cryogenic treatment and the ability
of the parameters called cutting edge flatting (CEF), peak flatting (PF)
and cutting edge surface roughness (CESR) introduced by the authors in
a recent study on drilling CFRP [33] in estimating drill wear. The hole
surface finish and exit delamination are also monitored to observe the
extent of deterioration in hole quality.
D. Samuel Raj, L. Karunamoorthy International Journal of Refractory Metals & Hard Materials 78 (2019) 32–44

Fig. 6. XRD profiles of untreated and cryo-treated WC samples.

Fig. 7. Variation of tool wear with drilling.

2. Materials and methods
2.1. Workpiece, cutting tools and cutting conditions
Quasi-isotropic carbon fiber laminates of 5.9 mm thickness, manu-
factured by resin infusion molding using Toray 300 UD carbon fiber
mats in the stacking sequence, [0/−45/90/45]2s were used in the
study. The thickness of each layer was 0.37 mm. The resin used was
epoxy with Tg > 170 °C. The main properties of the manufactured la-
minate (with fiber volume fraction > 55%) as provided by the laminate
manufacturer (M/s Eternus performance materials, India) are listed in
Table 1.
Two fine grained, straight shank, K-type, WC twist drills of 6.35 mm
diameter with a point angle 1220 (as shown in the Fig. 1), one untreated

36
D. Samuel Raj, L. Karunamoorthy
Fig. 8. VMS images of flank and cutting edges showing tool wear after 300 holes.
Fig. 9. SEM micrographs of cutting edges showing CEF.
and another subjected to cryogenic treatment were used in the study.
Constant cutting speed (60 m/min) and feed (0.15 mm/rev) were used
in the study. 300 holes were drilled using each tool.
2.2. Cryogenic treatment
Previous research studies on cryogenic treatment of cutting tools,
have either concluded [22] that deep cryo-treatment [−180 °C to
−196 °C] carried out at a holding time of 24 h results in optimum
performance of cryogenic treated cutting tools or have been carried out
in this temperature range [−180 °C to −196 °C] and holding time
[24 h] [23,25,26]. Hence in this study, deep cryogenic treatment
[−196 °C] of the drill was carried out for a holding time of 24 h.
Controlled cryogenic treatment of the drill was carried out in a
computer controlled Cryo processor (Model: A.C·I CP-200vi of
Controlled Thermal Processing, Inc.) as follows: Gradual lowering of
the temperature from room temperature to −196 °C at controlled
cooling rate (−1 °C/min), followed by holding at −196 °C for 24 h and
then heating at the rate of 1 °C/min to bring the drill back to room
temperature. This was followed by tempering at +200 °C for 2 h in a
furnace to relieve the stresses developed as a result of subzero treatment
temperatures. The schematic of the cryogenic treatment and the fol-
lowing tempering cycle is shown in Fig. 2.
2.3. Micro-hardness and microstructure studies
The effect of cryogenic treatment on the drill was studied by car-
rying out micro-hardness measurements on untreated and cryo-treated
samples using Economet VH – 50D Digital Vickers hardness tester
(Make: Chennai Metco) according to ASTM E384–99. The tester is
capable of applying loads from 1 kgf to 50 kgf. Twenty measurements
were made for each sample and the average value is reported. The
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International Journal of Refractory Metals & Hard Materials 78 (2019) 32–44
changes caused in the microstructure of the WC drill due to cryogenic
treatment were studied using scanning electron microscope (SEM) and
X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD).
2.4. Tool wear measurement
Tool wear was monitored by measuring flank wear, CEF, peak
flatting (PF) and cutting edge roughness after every 50 holes. Flank
wear and CEF were measured using a video measurement system.
While, flank wear is measured by observing the flank adjoining the
cutting edge, CEF is measured by observing the cutting edge directly as
shown in Fig. 3(a). PF was measured using Zeiss-TSK Surfcom 1500
roughness cum profile tester. The equipment is capable of measuring
and analysing the roughness and profile through an integrated com-
puter. The stylus was made to trace the flank - cutting edge- rake in-
terface region to get the cutting edge micro-geometry profile. PF was
measured as the distance between the peak points of the profiles of the
worn cutting edge profiles and the reference initial profile. For flank
wear, CEF and PF, three measurements were made along each edge at
fixed distances from the center and the average of the six values is re-
ported. The built-in software in the profile tester allows easy mea-
surement of the above parameters. CESR was measured using a surface
finish tester using a special knife edge stylus. The stylus was made to
make a trace along the length of the cutting edge by holding the drill in
a special fixture. The schematic for measuring cutting edge roughness is
shown in Fig. 3(b).
2.5. Hole quality
Hole quality was determined by observing the exit delamination at
the end of drilling (using a scanning electron microscope) and by
measuring the hole surface finish at the beginning and end of the
D. Samuel Raj, L. Karunamoorthy
Fig. 10. Cutting edge topography of edge-1 of untreated drill.
drilling study (using a roughness tester). The surface finish was mea-
sured at positions of 0° and 90° using a cut-off length of 0.8 mm and a
trace length of 4 mm. The measurements were made along the length of
the hole.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Microhardness of cryo-treated and untreated samples
Fig. 4 shows the average micro-hardness values (HV) of the un-
treated and cryo-treated samples. The measurements were made under
a load of 1 kg for a dwell time of 10 s. For each sample, twenty mea-
surements were taken and the average values are plotted in the figure.
Cryogenic treatment produces an average increase of 7% in the micro-
hardness. This is in line with previous studies [22,23,30]. The reason
for the increase in micro-hardness is evaluated through SEM and XRD
analysis.
3.2. Microstructure and XRD analysis
A typical tungsten carbide microstructure contains three phases:
alpha (α) phase – Tungsten Carbide, beta (β) phase – Cobalt binder, and
eta (η) phase – Carbon deficient WC-Co alloy. The gamma (γ) phase
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International Journal of Refractory Metals & Hard Materials 78 (2019) 32–44
consisting of carbides of Ti, Ta, Nb, etc. in a cubic lattice is present only
if the tool contains these alloying elements. The microstructure of the
untreated and cryo-treated WC samples determined according to ASTM
B 657–11 is shown in Fig. 5. Two of the phases can be clearly seen. The
α-phase, WC particles are grey coloured and angular shaped, while the
β-phase appears as white contrast as it is topologically higher and is not
attacked by the etchant, Murakami's reagent. The γ-phase is not seen as
the selected WC grade does not contain any the alloying elements (Ti,
Ta, Nb, etc.) in significant amounts to form this phase. The eta phase
has been found to appear as dark rounded areas. However, it is difficult
to differentiate the voids in the microstructure from these dark rounded
areas using SEM micrographs. Image processing analysis of the SEM
micrographs shows that the average size of the WC particles decreases
from 0.64 μm in the case of untreated WC drill to 0.58 μm as a result of
cryogenic treatment. The average grain size reduction of the alpha
phase ranged from 8 to 10% for 3 different samples. This grain size
reduction of the α-phase (WC) particles due to cryogenic treatment [36]
is one of the reasons for the increase in micro-hardness of the cryo-
treated sample.
X-ray diffraction analysis of the untreated and cryo-treated WC
samples revealed the formation of eta phases (Co3W3C and Co6W6C) in
the treated samples. These results are in agreement with Özbek et al.
[22] and are shown in Fig. 6. The reduction in the intensity of the peaks
D. Samuel Raj, L. Karunamoorthy
Fig. 11. Cutting edge topography of edge-1 of cryo-treated drill.
Fig. 12. Variation of cutting edge roughness.
of α-phase (WC) and β-phase (Cobalt) after cryogenic treatment in-
dicates that some of the WC grains have converted to eta phase due to
precipitation by combining with the surrounding Cobalt matrix. The
SEM microstructure shown in Fig. 5(b) also reveals the reduction in β-
phase (Cobalt) after cryogenic treatment. The eta carbides formed due
to cryogenic treatment though cannot be differentiated from the voids
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International Journal of Refractory Metals & Hard Materials 78 (2019) 32–44
very clearly from SEM micrographs.
The uniformly dispersed η-carbide particles formed as a result of
cryogenic treatment [22] is the other reason for increase in micro-
hardness. Though eta carbides have been found to cause tool embrit-
tlement, the increase in hardness as a result of cryogenic treatment can
be favourable to increased tool life. Further, the cutting forces in CFRP
machining are not as high as in metals.
3.3. Tool wear
3.3.1. Flank wear
Flank wear is measured from the cutting edge to the farthest point
along the flank to have visibly undergone abrasive wear. The variation
in flank wear with drilling is shown in Fig. 7(a). In agreement with
previous studies flank wear was found to increase from the center to-
wards the periphery for both the drills, mainly because of the higher
speeds and higher uncut chip thickness towards the cutting edge per-
iphery [37] resulting in a greater abrasion undergone by the outer flank
regions. Flank wear increases with drilling for both the drills. However,
there was not much to differentiate between the untreated and cryo-
treated drills in terms of flank wear, as flank wear measures only the
extent of rubbing undergone by the flanks, which both the flanks ap-
pear to have undergone by almost equal amounts.
D. Samuel Raj, L. Karunamoorthy International Journal of Refractory Metals & Hard Materials 78 (2019) 32–44

Table 2
Hole exit delamination for holes 296–300.
Hole Untreated Cryo-treated

296

297

298

299

300

3.3.2. Cutting edge flatting
Fig. 7(b) shows the variation in cutting edge flatting measured with
drilling. Unlike flank wear which has an initial value of zero before the
start of drilling, CEF has a finite value as the drills cannot have zero
cutting edge width. CEF essentially measures the increase in width of
the cutting edges because of the blunting undergone by the cutting
edges due to abrasion, which is the predominant wear mechanism in
drilling CFRP. CEF is therefore a more direct measure of the damage
undergone to the cutting edges than flank wear. While, CEF also in-
creases with drilling, the marginal superiority of the cryo-treated drill
can be clearly seen in terms of lower CEF.
3.3.3. Peak flatting
The variation of peak flatting with drilling is shown in Fig. 7(c). PF,

40
D. Samuel Raj, L. Karunamoorthy
Fig. 13. Roughness of the hole surface.
like CEF is a direct measure of the blunting of the cutting edge. It is seen
that the cryo-treated drill has undergone comparatively lesser PF than
the untreated drill due to the improved abrasion resistance caused by
increase in microhardness. Though PF has been measured using a
contour tester in this study, it can also be measured using measuring
microscopes with automatic focussing aid and measurement capability
in the z-direction. Such high accuracy measuring microscopes with
depth of focus of 1–2 μm are available, which can reliably measure PF.
Fig. 8 shows the flank and cutting edge images of both the drills
showing wear, obtained using the video measurement system (VMS)
after 300 holes. The SEM micrographs in Fig. 9 show the CEF under-
gone by both the drills in comparison with the cutting edge of one of the
drills before the start of drilling.
3.3.4. Cutting edge surface roughness variation
The cutting edge surface roughness profiles of one of the cutting
edges of the untreated and cryo-treated drills measured after every 100
holes are shown in Figs. 10(a) – (d) and Figs. 11(a) – (d) respectively.
It can be seen that the characteristic peaks in both the new edges get
broken down with drilling. The profiles of the cutting edges after 100,
200 and 300 holes show grooving wear in both untreated and cryo-
treated tools. However, the amount of grooving wear along the cutting
edges of the untreated tool is significantly higher (more valleys) than
the case of the cryo-treated tool. Not only are new grooves formed with
progress in drilling along the entire cutting edge length, but the depth
of some of the grooves also increases due to concentrated grooving
action of the carbon fibers. In the case of cryo-treated drills, grooves are
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International Journal of Refractory Metals & Hard Materials 78 (2019) 32–44
formed only at the center and periphery. This is also an indication of the
reduction in “grooving wear” due to finely dispersed η-carbide particles
formed after cryogenic treatment.
The roughness profiles of the new cutting edges of both the drills
(Figs. 10(a) & 8(a)) contain peaks which are characteristic of the of the
drill manufacturing process [33]. These peaks get broken down with
drilling as the abrasive carbon fibers slide across the cutting edge
during drilling, thus resulting in a decrease in roughness (Fig. 12). This
is evident for both the drills. The roughness of the cutting edges should
therefore continue to decrease with drilling due to the sliding of the
carbon fibers across the cutting edges (which make them smoother),
unless the cutting edges undergo grooving/chipping. However, the
roughness of the untreated drill almost remains almost constant/in-
creases marginally because of the formation of new grooves or dee-
pening of the already formed grooves with further drilling. This
grooving action was reported by Sakuma et al. [34] very early in the
research into CFRP drilling. Ramirez et al. [15] also reported cutting
edge chipping during CFRP drilling. The roughness of the cryo-treated
drill on the other hand decreases continuously up to 300 holes because
it undergoes less grooving wear as compared to the untreated drill. This
is due to the better abrasion resistance due to the improved hardness
due to cryogenic treatment. The improvement in chipping resistance is
in agreement with the previous results obtained using cryo-treated tools
[22,28,29,38].
D. Samuel Raj, L. Karunamoorthy International Journal of Refractory Metals & Hard Materials 78 (2019) 32–44

Fig. 14. Surface roughness profiles of the hole surface – hole nos. 296 & 297.

Fig. 15. Surface roughness profiles of the hole surface – cryo-treated drill - hole nos. 4 & 5.

42
D. Samuel Raj, L. Karunamoorthy
3.4. Hole quality
3.4.1. Delamination
The holes produced by both the drills began to show signs of
splintering beyond hole no. 200. However, the performance of the
untreated tool began to deteriorate rapidly beyond 200 holes, while the
performance of the cryo-treated tool was definitely better. Exit dela-
mination of hole nos. 296–300 for the untreated and cryo-treated tools
is shown in Table 2. It can be seen that the quality of holes produced by
the cryo-treated tools is significantly better compared to the untreated
tools, though both of them show splintering, delamination and spalling.
This is because of the lesser CEF and PF undergone by the cryo-treated
drill as compared to the untreated drill. Holes produced by the un-
treated drill started producing holes with delamination comparable to
hole nos. 295–300 of cryo-treated tool at least 50 holes earlier (~250
holes) than the cryo-treated tool. In this way, it can be considered that
cryo-treated drill produces around 20% improvement in tool life, if the
hole quality of the cryo-treated tool after 300 holes is considered to be
the reference.
3.4.2. Surface roughness
The mean values (from measurements at fiber orientations - 0° and
90°) of average roughness, Ra and the average peak to valley height, Rz
of the hole nos. 1–5 and 296–300 are shown in Fig. 13.
It is seen from Fig. 13 that the average values of the roughness for
the hole nos. 1–5 and 296–300 produced by the cryogenic treated drill
is marginally lower than the untreated drill. Similarly, there is a mar-
ginal increase in roughness values between hole nos. 1–5 and hole nos.
296–300. This increase is because of the cutting inefficiency at the
periphery due to drill margin wear which results in greater fiber pullout
as drilling progresses. However, there is not much to differentiate be-
tween the two drills in terms of hole surface finish.
There is a large variation between the average roughness values
taken at the two fiber orientations (0° and 90°) of the holes. Fig. 14
shows the roughness profiles of hole nos. 296 and 297 produced by the
cryo-treated tool taken at 0° and 90° fiber orientation. In both the cases
the average roughness at one position is almost twice the average
roughness at the other position. However, the average peak to valley
height, Rz does not show the same magnitude of increase in both the
two positions. In the case of hole no. 296, Rz is 90% higher in one
position compared to the other. But for hole no. 297, Rz is only 27%
higher. This is because, while the profile in Fig. 14(b) contains peaks
(uncut fibers) and valleys (fiber pullout), the profile in Fig. 14(c) con-
tains only valleys. Fig. 14(b) contains at least one deep peak over every
sampling length. Since, Rz averages the heights of greatest peak and
valley in each sampling length over the entire evaluation length, the Rz
value of the profile in Fig. 14(b) is higher. Ra, on the other hand
averages the heights of all the irregularities (both peaks and valleys)
present over the sampling length and again over the five sampling
lengths. The information contained in Ra is therefore relatively weak.
Rz is therefore a better indication than Ra of the extent of both fiber
pullout and uncut fibers on the hole surface. Further, as fiber pullout is
more predominant across the hole surface (more valleys), Rz along
maximum profile valley depth, Rv may be a better measure of the
overall hole quality giving an indication of the amount of fiber pullout
or uncut fibers. Rt on the other hand is affected by the presence of even
one large peak (due to uncut protruding fibers) or valley (due to fiber
pullout) present in one sampling length and may thus not be a better
measure of overall deterioration of hole surface roughness.
The reason for the large variation in surface roughness values for
different fiber orientations needs further analysis. More measurements
along the hole surface at different fiber orientations may throw light on
the amount of fiber pullout happening along the hole surface.
The roughness values give only an indication of the extent of fiber
pullout which has happened on the hole surface. Holes with higher
roughness values show more fiber pullout compared to the ones with
43
International Journal of Refractory Metals & Hard Materials 78 (2019) 32–44
lesser values. The roughness profiles of hole no. 4 and 5 produced by
the cryo-treated drill are shown in Fig. 15. Hole no. 4 with lower Rz
(20.16 μm) shows lesser fiber pullout as compared to hole no. 5 with
higher Rz (34.1 μm).
4. Conclusion
Tool wear measurements when drilling CFRP using normal and
cryo-treated WC drills were made by observing the changes happening
directly to the cutting edge through CEF, PF and CESR measurements.
Cryogenic treatment resulted in an increase of ~7% in the micro-
hardness because of the reduction in the grain size of the α-particles
(WC) and the formation of eta particles due to cryogenic treatment.
The cryo-treated drill shows comparatively lesser PF (~11%) and
CEF (~37%) with respect to the untreated drill, though the amount of
flank wear undergone by the drills is not very different. This is because
of the improved abrasion resistance. Since abrasion wear is the pre-
dominant wear criterion in drilling CFRP, upper limits can be set for
CEF and PF instead of specifying limits for flank wear. Similarly, the
cryo-treated drill shows comparatively lesser “grooving wear” as ob-
served through CESR measurements. Wear measurements on the cut-
ting edge are able to account for the minor improvement in micro-
hardness (and hence abrasion resistance) caused by cryogenic
treatment.
The quality of the holes in terms of exit delamination is much better
in the case of cryo-treated drills. Rz and Rv are better measures of the
hole surface damage caused by fiber pullout as a result of inefficient
cutting. Upper limits could therefore be prescribed for Rz and Rv in-
stead of the current practice of limiting Ra.
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