Semiconductor AISI-304 Stainless Steel : Micro-Drilling Through Holes on curved surface

📈 Hole Quality - burr height reduced nearly 4x without plunge milling | ⚙️ Tool Life - prolonged over 2x longer
  • Difficulties in Machining
  • HIT Achievements
  • Industry Application
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What makes AISI-304 Stainless Steel difficult to machine?



AISI-304 stainless steel is an austenitic grade stainless steel.  It is said that nearly 70% of commercially produced stainless steel are austenitic, and 304 accounts for more than 50% of stainless steel consumed.

304 stainless steel has excellent corrosion resistance under various kinds of environments.  Its good machinability also allows it to be used across different industries.  Though 304 stainless steel has good machinability in general, it still has machining difficulties due to its material properties, such as work hardening and low thermal conductivity.

The work hardening of 304 stainless steel brings increased cutting forces during the machining process.  Low thermal conductivity also makes it difficult to remove the heat generated during the machining process, along with the long, stringy chips, which can result in poor workpiece quality and serious tool wear.

 

☑️ AISI-304 Stainless Steel Machining Information

 
    AISI-304 Stainless Steel Machining Information     
  Material   AISI-304 Stainless Steel
  *workpiece size Φ8mm solid round rod
  Feature   Φ1 x 8mm (through holes)
  *aspect ratio 8x
  Process   Micro-drilling  
  Ultrasonic Tool Holder           HSKA63-R30-06
  Rotating Speed   12,000rpm
  Tool Selection   OSG MRS-GDL Φ1 drill bit  

 
HIT HSK-A63 ultrasonic machining module was used for micro-drilling through holes on curved surface of AISI-304 stainless steel
(Figure 1. HIT HSK-A63 ultrasonic machining module was used for micro-drilling through holes on curved surface of AISI-304 stainless steel)



 

HIT's Goal in Micro-Drilling Through Holes on AISI-304 Stainless Steel



The goal is to prevent burrs around the exit holes on curved surface of 304 stainless steel and to reduce tool wear, by using CNC machining with HIT ultrasonic-assisted machining technology without plunge milling before main drilling. 





 

Ultrasonic-Assisted Micro-Drilling Through Holes on AISI-304 Stainless Steel: Machining Results

 

AISI-304 Stainless Steel Micro-Driling Through Holes: Hole Quality

HIT ultrasonic-assisted micro-drilling through holes on curved surface of 304 stainless steel greatly helped reduce burss around exit holes
(Figure 2. HIT ultrasonic-assisted micro-drilling through holes on curved surface of 304 stainless steel greatly helped reduce burss around exit holes)

 
  • In conventional machining (without ultrasonic), plunge milling before main drilling is essential to prevent tool deflection due to high cutting forces the tool encountered when it started to drill the workpiece.
  • In this cutting test trial (under the same machining parameters without ultrasonic and without plunge milling), the material was hard to cut off due to its material properties.  Along with poor chip evacuation, cutting force was increased during the machining process.  This resulted in massive burrs around exit holes.
  • With HIT ultrasonic (under the same machining parameters without plunge milling), the high frequency micro-vibration helped reduce cutting forces.  This prevented the tool from deflection, which helped achieve good entry hole quality.  In the meantime, better chip evacuation allowed the tool to cut off the material more easily.  This effectively reduced nearly 4x of burr height around the exit holes.





HIT HSK-A63 ultrasonic machining module was used for micro-drilling through holes on curved surface of 304 stainless steel, and helped reduce nearly 4x of burr height around exit holes
(Figure 3. HIT HSK-A63 ultrasonic machining module was used for micro-drilling through holes on curved surface of 304 stainless steel, and helped reduce nearly 4x of burr height around exit holes)





 

AISI-304 Stainless Steel Micro-Drilling Through Holes: Tool Life

HIT HSK-A63 ultrasonic machining module was used for micro-drilling through holes on curved surface of 304 stainless steel, resulting in over 2x longer tool life compared to that without ultrasonic
(Figure 4. HIT HSK-A63 ultrasonic machining module was used for micro-drilling through holes on curved surface of 304 stainless steel, resulting in over 2x longer tool life compared to that without ultrasonic)

 
  • In conventional machining (without ultrasonic), the material was hard to cut off due to its material properties.  Along with poor chip evacuation, entangled chips were easily stuck on the tool during the machining process, which resulted in serious tool wear.
  • In this cutting test trial, under the same machining parameters without ultrasonic and without plunge milling, it only completed 5 through holes before tool breakage.
  • With HIT ultrasonic (under the same machining parameters), high frequency micro-vibration helped reduce cutting forces.  With better chip evacuation, the tool could cut off the material more easily, preventing from entangled chips on the tool.  This greatly reduced tool wear, and effectively prolonged over 2x of tool life.





 

HIT Ultrasonic Technology Achievements in Micro-Drilling Through Holes on AISI-304 Stainless Steel



📈 Hole Quality -  burr height reduced nearly 4x without plunge milling
⚙️ Tool Life - prolonged over 2x longer

 

AISI-304 Stainless Steel Machining in Industry Application



Micro-drilling Through Holes on AISI-304 Stainless Steel can be applied in the Semiconductor industry and 3C Electronics industry, especially for vacuum plates as spare parts in semiconductor manufacturing equipments, and electronic spare parts.


AISI-304 stainless steel is an austenitic grade stainless steel.  It is said that nearly 70% of commercially produced stainless steel are austenitic, and 304 accounts for more than 50% of stainless steel consumed.

304 stainless steel has excellent corrosion resistance under various kinds of environments.  Its good machinability also allows it to be used across different industries in the making of cutlery, architectural panelling, tubing, springs, nuts, bolts, screws, sinks, electronic spare parts, semiconductor vacuum plates, food and pharmaceutical production equipment.

Though 304 stainless steel has good machinability in general, it still has machining difficulties due to its material properties, such as work hardening and low thermal conductivity.


That was when HIT's Ultrasonic Machining Module came to help!  HIT offers a comprehensive solution in machining advanced materials.  With the assistance of HIT's Ultrasonic Machining Technology, clients stopped worrying about poor hole quality and tool life due to high cutting forces and entangled chips.  HIT assures its clients of not only matching up with their requirements, but also achieving even better outcomes!




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