Drilling Operation in Advanced Ceramic with RUM Technology

2021/08/12

What does RUM technology can do in advanced ceramic drilling?

Ceramic Drilling Engineering Table(Conventional v.s. RUM)
Material Feature Cycle Time Quality Tool Life(Per Tool)
Silicon Carbide D1.7mm, d27mm 60min→47min/hole Edge-crack<0.04mm 4→7 holes
Silicon Carbide D0.3mm, d5.4mm 8min40sec. Tolerance <0.02mm  
Zirconia Ceramic D0.3mm, d4.5mm 210sec.→157sec.   5→27 holes
Alumina Ceramic D0.2mm, d1.48mm Unable→60 sec/hole Tolerance <0.02m
Edge crack<10um		 0→Available

Drilling is a precise technique that requires high stability. As the demand of drilling in advanced ceramic getting precise, challenges have emerged.
It is quite a challenge to drill advanced ceramics with exceptional mechanical strength, non-conductivity, corrosion resistance, and low fracture toughness. Aside from few machining methods are capable of ceramic drilling, different solutions face difficulties in severe tool wear, low efficiency, subsurface damages, and the limitations of materials and features.

Rotary Ultrasonic Machining (RUM) upgrades original ultrasonic machining (UM) to an upper level. It is the most pertinent solution for advanced ceramic drilling since the same directions of micro-vibrations and
The superimpose of RUM between vertical vibrations and rotary force allows higher feed and accelerates the abrasion of drilling and reduces tool load at the same time. Since the cutting resistance has been reduced in each micro-vibration, RUM also has better surface integrity and a smoother hole edge with less fracture.
Link to Difference of RUM and UM


HIT RUM Drilling Application: 

1. Silicon Carbide deep hole drilling

Link to Silicon Carbide deep hole drilling Case
Hole feature: Diameter 1.7mm, Depth 27mm
Highlights of RUM:
  • Quality: Edge-crack is less than 0.04 mm, outstands customers' quality standard(edge-crack<0.2mm)
  • Efficiency: the machining efficiency enhances 25%(Cycle Time from 60 min to 47 min)
  • Tool life： Enhancing 33%(4 holes to 7 holes per tool)
  • Reduce costs by automatically processing
2. Silicon Carbide micro-drilling
Link to Silicon carbide micro drilling

Hole feature: Diameter 0.3mm, Depth 5.4mm
Highlight of RUM:
  • Capable to High Aspect Ratio(18X)
  • High Precision of Hole Accuracy.
3. Zirconia Ceramic micro drilling

Link to Zirconia Ceramic micro drilling
Hole feature: Diameter 0.3mm, Depth 4.5mm
Highlight of RUM:
  • Create a solution from none to the past
  • Longer Tool Life(5 holes to 27 holes per tool)
4. Alumina Ceramic micro drilling

Link to Alumina Ceramic micro drilling case
Hole feature: Diameter 0.2mm, Depth 1.48mm
Highlight of RUM:
  • Overcome the Impossible, from zero to available (60 sec/hole)
  • Hi-Precision Machining Quality(the diameter tolerance of each hole doesn’t exceed +0.02mm)

 

What HIT could offer in introducing RUM technology?

Hantop Intelligence Tech(HIT) is a company expert in Rotary ultrasonic machining technology. To solve the challenges in advanced materials machining and alleviate the burden of introducing new technology for manufacturers, we provide module design for convenient and economic installation. The ultrasonic module set contains an ultrasonic tool holder, ultrasonic driver, and non-contact power transmitter, which could retrofit to any VMC spindle to grind/ mill/ drill with ultrasound assistance.
Link to Product Introduction

We also provide suggestions of parameters, conditions, and features for manufacturers who want to try the applications validated with our customers.

Difficulties in Advanced Ceramic Drilling and Why Rotary Ultrasonic Machining
  • Conventional CNC drilling
    Conventional CNC allows manufacturers to machine in a flexible and rather economic way. It is also the most common method and no need to change new equipment for most CNC manufacturers. The limitation shows while encountering materials with extreme properties. Advanced ceramics with high stiffness and perfectly elastic will tend to generate edge-cracks in the entrance and the end of the holes due to residual drilling force. Excessive feed and improper force result in large tool consumption.
     
  • EDM (Electrical Discharge Machining)
    EDM removes materials by eroding in electric spark, which indicates the requirement of conductivity. EDM could process mass and microarray holes in one batch and enable various shapes and depths with high precision and fine surface finishing. High equipment requirements and manpower will be hinder to manufacturers.
  • Laser Drilling
    For thin plate and scale holes, laser drilling has a high efficiency by erosion of repeatable and focused laser beams. The main drawback of laser drilling is the limitation of thickness. It is hard to penetrate and maintain even in the hole wall if the material is too thick. The introduction of equipment is another problem.