ARTICLE IN PRESS

International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 47 (2007) 1636–1645

www.elsevier.com/locate/ijmactool

Tool wear in friction drilling

Scott F. Millera, Peter J. Blaub, Albert J. Shiha,
a
Mechanical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2125, USA
b
Metals and Ceramics Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, P.O. Box 2008 – M/S 6063, Oak Ridge, TN 37831-6063, USA
Received 23 May 2006; accepted 31 October 2006
Available online 12 December 2006

Abstract

This study investigates the tool wear in friction drilling, a nontraditional hole-making process. In friction drilling, a rotating conical
tool uses the heat generated by friction to soften and penetrate a thin workpiece and create a bushing without generating chips. The wear
of a conical tungsten carbide tool used for friction drilling a low carbon steel workpiece is studied. Tool wear characteristics are
quantified by measuring its weight change, detecting changes in its shape with a coordinate measuring machine, and making observations
of wear damage using scanning electron microscopy. Energy dispersive spectrometry is applied to analyze the change in chemical
composition of the tool surface due to drilling. In addition, the thrust force and torque during drilling and the hole size are measured
periodically to monitor the effects of tool wear. Results indicate that the carbide tool is durable, showing minimal tool wear after drilling
11,000 holes, but observations also indicate the progressively severe abrasive grooving on the tool tip.
r 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Tool wear; Friction drilling; Wear measurement; Chipless hole making

1. Introduction separation stage, the tool penetrates the workpiece and

makes a hole. The ductile work material encompasses the
Friction drilling is a novel machining process that utilizes tool. Finally, the tool retracts and leaves a hole with a
frictional heat between a rotating conical tool and the work bushing. Cross-sections of several holes friction drilled with
material to soften and penetrate thin-walled workpieces a 5.3 mm diameter carbide tool in AISI 1015 carbon steel
and to form a hole [1–5]. The frictional heat increases the tube are shown in Fig. 2.
ductility of the workpiece material, which is extruded onto Tool wear in friction drilling is a concern because it affects
both the front and back sides of the material being drilled. the characteristics and tolerances that are achievable. It is
The process forms a bushing in situ and is clean and promoted by the high temperature and forces generated in
chipless. The added height of the formed bushing can the process. Miller et al. [1] have observed high peaks in the
lengthen the threaded portion of the hole, and conse- experimentally measured thrust force, torque, and tempera-
quently increase the fastener clamp load for joining thin ture. Tool wear in friction stir welding, a process similar to
sheet metal. The technology and principles of the friction friction drilling, was characterized by Fernandez and Murr
drilling process have been reviewed by Miller et al. [1]. [6] and Liu et al. [7] for threaded steel and WC–Co tools,
Fig. 1 shows the stages in friction drilling a ductile metal, respectively. A preliminary study of performance of tool
square tube workpiece. First, the tool comes into contact wear for coated and uncoated friction drilling tools has been
with the workpiece. Then, at the main thrust stage, the tool reported [8]; however, there is a lack of additional published
penetrates the workpiece and high axial force is encoun- research on the wear of friction drilling tools.
tered. The friction force on the contact surface produces The goals of the current research were to quantify the
heat and softens the work material. Then, in the material wear and surface degradation of tungsten carbide tools
used in friction drilling of steel using changes in tool shape
Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 734 647 1766; fax: +1 734 936 0363. and mass, to characterize worn tool surface features, and to
E-mail address: [email protected] (A.J. Shih). analyze the surface chemistry of the worn tool tip. Thrust

0890-6955/$ - see front matter r 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.ijmachtools.2006.10.009
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S.F. Miller et al. / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 47 (2007) 1636–1645 1637

Fig. 1. Stages of friction drilling in a square steel tube.

Fig. 3. Setup for friction drilling of carbon steel square tube.

Fig. 2. Cross-section of friction drill holes in AISI 1015 steel tube.

force, torque, and hole inside diameters were also measured

as the tool wear progressed.

2. Experimental setup and wear measurements

2.1. Machine tool and workpiece

A Milacron Sabre 500 vertical machining center was

used for the friction drilling tool wear study. Fig. 3 shows
the drilling setup. The workpiece was fixed with blocks
Fig. 4. Close up view of square tube workpiece after friction drilling tool
across two vices that provided support in the axial
wear test.
direction to minimize workpiece bowing. Holes were drilled
from left to right relative to the view in Fig. 3. After each
hole was drilled, the tool was indexed 7.6 mm to the right infrared camera system. Even higher temperatures are
automatically. Depending on the length of the square tube expected at the tool–workpiece interface.
workpiece, 70–80 holes could be drilled on each side of the The work-material was AISI 1015 carbon steel, which is
square tube. The spindle speed was 2800 rpm and tool feed a low-carbon steel similar to the AISI 1020 steel used in
rate was 254 mm/min. These are common process para- friction drilling experiments in [1]. The workpiece was
meters for friction drilling of low-carbon steel [1,2]. square tubing with wall thickness of 1.5 mm, width of
Each hole took about 2.3 s to drill. The time between 19 mm, and average length of 0.6 m. As shown in Fig. 4,
each hole was set to at least 10 s to allow heat dissipation square tubing was ideal for drilling many holes because it
from the tool because of the high temperature in the has four usable, well-supported sides.
process. The maximum temperature generated in friction A Kistler model 9272A piezoelectric drilling dynam-
drilling was measured to be about 1/2 to 2/3 of the melting ometer was used to measure the axial thrust force and
temperature of the carbon steel workpiece [1] by an torque during the drilling process.
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2.2. Tool geometry and tool wear characterization machine (CMM). Fig. 6(a) shows the CMM measured tool
profiles at two angular positions (601 apart from each
A picture and an illustration of the key dimensions of the other), one on the ridge and another on the valley of the
friction drilling tool are shown in Figs. 5(a) and (b), lobe, showing the difference in radius of the trilobular
respectively. The tool used in this study has d ¼ 5.3 mm, geometry. The difference in radius between two scans is
a ¼ 901, b ¼ 361, hc ¼ 0.940 mm, hn ¼ 5.518 mm, and about 0.087 mm. Fig. 6(b) shows three cross-sectional
hl ¼ 7.043 mm. The transition from the cylindrical to the CMM measurements of the trilobular geometry at 8.98,
conical region is rounded and not as well defined as 13.0, and 16.0 mm axial locations. The dashed circles
illustrated in Fig. 5(b). Furthermore, the transition represent the original circular cross-section of the tool
becomes even less distinct as tool wear progresses. before the grinding to make the trilobular shape. Measure-
The cylindrical and conical regions have the trilobular ment results show a cam-like lobular shape of the tool
cross-sectional shape. The lobes are defined as regions cross-section with about 0.082 mm maximum distance to
of the tool that have a larger radius or raised profile. the dashed circle. This distance matches the measurement
The tool used has three lobes 120o apart from each other in Fig. 6(a).
that provide primary contact with the workpiece. Profiles A notch, as shown in Fig. 5(a) was ground along the
on the tool are measured using the coordinate measuring axial direction in the shoulder region of the tool. This

a b CL

Shank region

Shoulder region

d
hl, Cylindrical region
r


z hn, Conical region

 hc , Center region
datum
Radial

c CL
datum
Angular

Axial datum

notch

Scan in the valley

Scan on the apex
of trilobular tool
of trilobular tool
(Fig. 9)
(Fig. 10)

Fig. 5. Friction drill tool: (a) picture of the tool, (b) illustration of regions in the tool and key dimensional parameters and (c) three reference data for
CMM measurement.
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S.F. Miller et al. / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 47 (2007) 1636–1645 1639

a 3.0

2.5

Radial distance (mm)

2.0

1.5

1.0

0.5

0.0
10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
Axial distance (mm)

b Angular datum (notch in tool)

3
Axial position: 8.98 mm

2 13.0 mm

16.0 mm
1

-1

-2
Trilobular tool
Circular geometry
-3
-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3

Fig. 6. CMM profiles of tool (a) at different angular positions showing difference in radius of the peak and valley for trilobular geometry and (b) cross-
sectional scans of the tool showing deviation from circular cross-section.

notch aligns with the apex of one of the lobes and marks fixture, and the slot was in line with a gap machined into
the angular datum for CMM measurement of tool wear, as the fixture. The CMM incorporates a scanning measure-
described later in this section. The trilobular geometry ment head with two probes, marked as Probes 1 and 2 in
decreases the overall contact area and torque in friction Fig. 7(a). Probes 1 and 2 are made of tungsten carbide with
drilling. The tool material, provided by FormdrillTM, was a 1.0 and 0.7 mm diameter ball tips, respectively. The first
cobalt-bonded combination of tungsten carbide and step in the measurement was to establish the datum using
titanium carbide and was designed for friction drilling. Probe 1. Probe 1 was programmed to measure the back end
Throughout the study, measurements of drilling thrust of the tool and establish three datum surfaces, marked as
force, torque, tool weight, and tool profile were conducted the axial, radial, and angular datum in Fig. 5(c). As shown
after drilling hole numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 50, 100, 200, in Fig. 7(b), Probe 1 first came into contact with the back
500, 1000, and every thousand holes after that. In total, of the tool shoulder region to establish the axial datum.
11,000 holes were drilled and the tool was still performing Probe 1 then traced the shank region of the tool to find the
well at the end of the experiment. After drilling the 9000th radial datum. Finally, Probe 1 touched around the
hole, scanning electron microscopy and light element shoulder region to find the position of the notch for
energy dispersive X-ray analysis were performed on the angular datum. These three datum planes do not change
tool. during the tool wear test and were the references for
One of the key wear measurements is the change of the precision measurement of small change in tool geometry or
tool shape, which was measured using a CMM (LegendTM the tool wear.
by Electronic Measuring Devices). A specially designed After the datum surfaces were established and the
tool fixture was built to hold the tool in the shoulder region relative location between Probes 1 and 2 remained
(Fig. 7). The tool was positioned in the fixture with the unchanged, Probe 2 was programmed to perform 12 scans,
front of the tool shoulder flush with the front face of the 301 apart from each other in the angular direction, of the
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Fig. 7. CMM for tool wear measurement: (a) tool, tool holder, and CMM scanning head with Probes 1 and 2, (b) Probe 1 measuring the axial datum, and
(c) Probe 2 performing axial scanning of the tool conical region.

conical and center regions of the tool. The path of these Fig. 8 shows optical micrographs of the conical region of
scans was along the axial direction. Fig. 7(c) shows the the tool after 2, 1000, 5000, and 11,000 drilled holes. The
Probe 2 of CMM scanning the tool for profile measure- lobe apex is in the center of the tool in each micrograph. In
ment. The tool profile was scanned eight consecutive times the very early stage of tool wear, as shown in Fig. 8(a), the
on the worn tool to determine repeatability of the scans. only observation that can be made is the adhesion of work
After each scan the tool was repositioned in the fixture. The material to the tool. A patch of wear including circular
standard deviation was calculated at four points on the grooves in the conical region occurs on the lobe apex after
tool (Fig. 10) and for tool radius at each axial position of drilling 1000 holes, as shown in Fig. 8(b). At 5000 holes, as
the eight scans. shown in Fig. 8(c), this patch area has grown significantly.
The CMM was also used to measure hole sizes. The Fig. 8(d) shows the patch of wear extending around the
diameters of the 1st, 5000th, and 11,000th hole were tool conical region. Circular grooves around the tool
measured at three depths (0.46, 1.99, and 4.46 mm from the peripheral develop in the area intersecting tool conical and
top of the hole). cylindrical regions. These grooves are likely due to the
abrasive wear.
3. Results and observations of tool wear
3.2. CMM measurements of tool profile and tool wear
3.1. Observations of tool wear by optical microscopy
Fig. 9 shows the tool profile of the new tool and the tool
The trilobular geometry of the tool influenced the tool used after drilling the first hole. The profile was measured
wear and material adhesion from the workpiece to the tool. at 301 in the angular direction from the angular datum, as
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Fig. 8. Optical micrographs of friction drilling tool after: (a) 2, (b) 1000, (c) 5000, and (d) 11,000 holes.
Radial distance (mm)

3.0 A
2.4 B New
Radial distance (mm)

1 2.5
1.9 2.0 5000
New 11000 New
1.4 1.5

1.0
0.9 5000 C
11 12 13 14 15 16 0.5 11000
Axial distance (mm) 0.0 D
10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
Fig. 9. CMM profiles of unused tool and after drilling one hole showing Axial distance (mm)
buildup of work material on the tool.
Fig. 10. Comparison of CMM measured profiles on the lobe apex of the
new tool and tool after drilling 5000 and 11,000 holes.
shown in Fig. 5(c). The evidence of material adhesion on
the tool is apparent. The horizontal axis represents axial
distance from the axial datum and the vertical axis holes can be quantified in Fig. 10. Large wear occurs at the
represents radial position of the tool surface. A 0.045 mm tool center region.
thick raised area along the tool profile can be noticed in Wear was quantified at four locations, marked as A–D,
Fig. 9 because a layer of work material adhered to the tool in Fig. 10. Point A is located at the transition of the
surface. As the lobe plows through the workpiece, the work cylindrical region to the conical region and defined at
material builds up on its front side. The tool profiles are a 10 mm from the axial datum. The wear at Point A
measure of the balance between tool wear and work- represents the radial wear of the tool. This wear will affect
material adhesion to the tool. The continual transfer of the hole inner diameters. Point B is the area with significant
work material between the tool and workpiece will explain wear at the intersection of the conical and cylindrical
the fluctuations in thrust force and torque, to be discussed regions. The wear at point B is measured as the maximum
in Section 3.6. Along the apex of the trilobular lobe, there distance from a point on the profile of the worn tool to the
was no measurable wear or material deposition after profile of the new tool. Point C indicates the wear in the
drilling the first hole. middle of the tool center region. The wear is measured as
The CMM measured tool profiles of the new tool and the distance from the profile of the worn tool to the straight
tool after drilling 5000 and 11,000 holes are shown in line of the new tool profile in the center region. Point D is
Fig. 10. The measurement trace was made in line with the the wear in the axial direction at the tool tip. The average
angular datum, as illustrated by the trace of dashed line in wear at A–D for 12 measured tool profiles are shown in
Fig. 5(c). Wear of the tool after drilling 5000 and 11,000 Fig. 11. Six data points for every 2000 holes after hole
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1642 S.F. Miller et al. / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 47 (2007) 1636–1645

0.35 17.40 14
Tool weight Tool weight loss

Weight loss per 1000 holes (mg)

D per 1000 holes
0.3 17.38 12

0.25 C 17.36 10

Weight (g)
Wear (mm)

0.2 17.34 8

0.15 17.32 6
B
17.30 4
0.1
17.28 2
0.05 A
17.26 0
0 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
Hole number (X1000)
Hole number (X 1000)
Fig. 12. Tool weight and weight loss at different stages of tool wear.
Fig. 11. Tool wear at A–D in Fig. 10.

number 1000 are used to illustrate the relative change in to the tool. It should be noted that every weight
tool wear at four representative locations on the tool. measurement was a balance of the loss due to tool wear
Repeatability of eight CMM measurements of the tool and the gain due to work material transferred to the tool.
wear were conducted at A–D. Standard deviations of these After drilling 100 holes, the weight of tool started to drop
eight measurements at A–D were 1.88, 9.67, 7.17, and due to tool wear.
6.19 mm, respectively. This demonstrates that the repeat- The change of tool weight for every 1000 holes is also
ability of CMM measurement was adequate compared to shown in Fig. 12, labeled tool weight loss, scaled with the
the amount of wear, 16.9, 129, 231, and 297 mm at A–D, right Y-axis. The general trend was increasing tool weight
respectively. loss which peaked at 12 mg/1000 holes from hole number
Wear was the smallest at Point A. The wear was 5000 to 6000. Inexplicably, after this peak the trend
negligible before hole number 3000. It steadily increases changed to decreasing tool weight loss. Change of tool
to 0.02 mm after 11,000 holes. After drilling 1000 and 3000 weight was 7 mg/1000 holes from hole number 10,000 to
holes, wear was the largest at Point B, an area with large 11,000. The decreasing wear rate is likely due to the
initial tool wear. The optical micrograph of tool wear in increase of contact area, as shown in the optical micro-
Fig. 8(b) confirms such observation of high tool wear at graphs in Fig. 8(d). The high tool wear rate at the start is
Point B. Starting from hole number 5000, a clear trend consistent with the observation of high wear rate of a new,
emerged showing increasing wear at the tool tip. The wear sharp cutting tool at the start of a machining process. After
at Point C is steady throughout the drilling of 11,000 holes, the initial run-in of the tool, the wear rate decreases. This is
reaching 0.22 mm at the end of tool wear test. The wear at observed in the wear of friction drilling tool. The work-
Point D, the drill tip, is slow before hole number 5000. The material deposition to the tool because of changing
wear rate at Point D increases rapidly after drilling 7000 geometry of the worn tool is also a possible reason.
holes. After drilling 11,000 holes, the wear at A–D are Further study is needed to investigate this phenomenon.
0.0169, 0.129, 0.231, and 0.297 mm, respectively. It should
be noted that the center region supports the drill and 3.4. Scanning electron microscopy
generates the peak force in the process [1]. As shown in the
profile in Fig. 10 and optical micrograph in Fig. 8, shape of An SEM image of the tool tip after drilling 9000 holes is
the center region was worn from a cone to a funnel shape shown in Fig. 13(a). The tool outer diameter near the
with concave cross-sectional profile after drilling 5000 and bottom of the figure is about 5.3 mm. In the tool tip (center
11,000 holes. The drill tip becomes sharper and, as a result, region), the funnel shape and circular grooves can be seen.
will generate lower peak thrust force in friction drilling. The conical region has formed a rough, serrated appear-
This will be discussed in Section 3.6. ance due to the different forms of wear. Lower in
Fig. 13(a), the cylindrical region can be seen with little
3.3. Tool weight evidence of wear or use.
The result of element detection by light element EDS
Fig. 12 shows results of the weight measurements during X-ray for new tool and tool after drilling 9000 holes is
the tool wear study. The weight ultimately changed from shown in Figs. 13(b) and (c), respectively. It should be
17.388 g for new tool to 17.299 g after 11,000 holes, which noted the relative height or electron count of each element
indicates a decrease of 0.089 g. After drilling the first hole, is not directly quantitative. W, C, Ti, and Co, as shown in
the tool weight actually increased to 17.399 g. The increase Fig. 13(b), are elements that comprise the WC, TiC, and
of 0.011 g was due to material adhesion from the workpiece Co binder of the tool and are expected. Tool elements and
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S.F. Miller et al. / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 47 (2007) 1636–1645 1643

b 700
W
600

500

Counts
400

300

200

100 Ti
W W
C Co
0
c 600
W
500

400
Counts

300 Fe

200 C
O
Ti Mn
100 W
Fe W Fe W
0

Fig. 13. SEM characterization of friction drilling tool: (a) SEM micrograph of the tool center and conical regions and EDS analysis of elemental
composition of the tool surface for (b) new tool and (c) tool after 9000 drilled holes.

deposited elements from the workpiece of C, Fe, and Mn of the hole is because of the lack of wear in the cylindrical
are also present in Fig. 13(c), confirming material transfer region. An important observation in this study is that, even
from the workpiece to the tool. Co cannot be seen in the with the tool worn in the center and conical regions, the
graph because of the larger Fe peak. O is present due to hole diameter is largely determined by the tool cylindrical
either high-temperature oxidation in the friction drilling region, which does not exhibit a significant wear. There-
process, which is an evidence of oxidation wear, or fore, the hole diameter in the top of the hole, does not
oxidization on the drill surface after drilling. As discussed change drastically.
in Section 4, SEM microscopy and the chemical analysis The most notable change in diameter between hole
information suggested that a combination of adhesive, numbers 1 and 11,000 is 0.29 mm, which is near the bottom
oxidative, and abrasive wear contributes to friction drilling of the bushing at a depth of 4.46 mm. The wear in the tool
tool wear. conical region causes the decrease in hole diameter. Twice
of the 0.13 mm wear at Point B, as shown in Figs. 10 and
3.5. Hole inner diameters 11, matches well with the 0.29 mm diametrical reduction of
the hole.
An important effect of tool wear is the dimensional In this study, no particular limit was determined for the
alteration of friction drilled holes. The hole becomes too reduction of hole size. Such criterion is usually application
small when it cannot be tapped or utilized with the dependent. Even with 0.29 mm diametrical reduction of the
intended M6 fastener for the 5.3 mm diameter hole drilled hole size at the bottom of the bushing after 11,000 holes,
in this study. The CMM was used to measure inner the hole drilled could still be tapped and coupled with the
diameter of hole numbers 1, 5000, and 11,000 at three M6 fastener due to the thin wall thickness near the bottom
depths, 0.46, 1.99, and 4.46 mm from the top of the hole, of the bushing.
for comparison. Fig. 14 shows the measured hole
diameters. A general trend of reducing hole diameter is 3.6. Thrust forces and torque
observed. Near the top of the hole, the diameter was
reduced by about 0.09 mm. Almost no change is tool The measured thrust force and torque for friction drilled
diameter occurred in the middle of the hole (1.99 mm from hole numbers 1, 2, 4000, and 11,000 are shown in Fig. 15.
the top of the hole). Small change in diameter near the top These hole numbers were chosen to demonstrate the effect
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0 1800
Hole depth from top (mm)

1 1700

Thrust Force (N)

2 1600

3 1500

1 5000 11000
4 1400
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
Hole number (X 1000)
5
4.4 4.6 4.8 5.0 5.2 5.4 5.6 Fig. 16. Peak thrust force at different stages of tool wear.
Hole diameter (mm)

Fig. 14. Hole diameter at hole depths of 0.46, 1.99, and 4.46 mm for hole significantly in the second and following holes. This is
numbers 1, 5000, and 11,000. likely due to the adhesion of work material on the tool, as
shown in Figs. 8(a) and 9, which increased the size of the
2500 tool and changed the frictional contact interaction between
the tool and workpiece. The first hole was drilled with
2000 2 carbide tool sliding on steel workpiece. Every hole after
4000 that was a combination of carbide tool, transferred steel
1
Force (N)

1500
11000 work material, and possibly an oxide layer sliding on steel
workpiece. The changing condition of work-material
1000 exchange to and from the tool caused variability of the
thrust force and torque due to varying coefficient of
500 friction, size of the tool, and amount of work material
transferred between the tool and workpiece. No clear trend
0 on the effect of tool wear in torque can be seen. The reason
7
for this is thought to be the varying frictional contact
6 condition from hole to hole.
The peak thrust force decreased at later stages of tool
5
wear, as shown in Fig. 16. This surprising observation was
Torque (N-m)

11000
4 credited to the change of tool tip geometry, as shown in
4000
1 Fig. 10 after drilling 11,000 holes. The worn tool tip is
3
sharp with the concave cross-sectional shape in the center
2
2
region. This self-sharpening tool tip in friction drilling and
1
the reduction in peak thrust force was an interesting
phenomenon caused by the tool wear in friction drilling.
0 The peak thrust force was the lowest at the end of the
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
Time from contact (s)
11,000 hole test. At about 5000 holes, the peak thrust force
became smaller than that of the first hole.
0 2 4 6 8 10
Distance from contact (mm) 4. Friction drilling tool wear mechanisms
Fig. 15. Thrust force and torque of hole numbers 1, 2, 4000, and 11,000.
Microscopy of the tool surface, augmented by energy
dispersive X-ray analysis, suggest that adhesive, oxidative,
of tool wear on drilling process. The horizontal axis and abrasive wear all occur to some extent during friction
represents the time and distance of tool travel from the drilling; however, it is difficult to determine their propor-
initial contact between tool and workpiece. General shapes tional contributions [9]. They are described in their
of force and torque are similar to those described in Ref. proposed order of importance; namely,
[1]. The secondary peaks in thrust force and torque after
hole drilling can be identified. After penetration, the  Adhesive wear. In friction drilling, most material
shoulder of the tool, which is marked in Fig. 5(b), transfer is observed to be from the workpiece to the
contacted the back-extruded work-material and created tool. Work-material adhesion to the tool during
the secondary peak [1]. Maximum peak forces were 1600, machining is a familiar phenomenon [10]. Due to the
2100, 1700, and 1400 N for holes 1, 2, 4000, and 11,000, high temperature of the process, the Co matrix in the
respectively. After drilling the first hole, the force increased tool material will soften, be removed from the tool, and
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S.F. Miller et al. / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 47 (2007) 1636–1645 1645

lose hard WC particles embedded in the matrix. modes. The tribological aspects of changing frictional
Adhesive wear arises from the strong adhesive forces contact conditions due to transfer of work material to the
created whenever atoms come into intimate contact. tool need clarification. Diffusion wear is thought to occur
When these adhesive forces are greater than the shear from chemical reactions in the contact zone between the
strength of either bulk material, a break is likely within tool and the workpiece, especially at elevated temperatures,
one of the materials [11]. but no direct evidence for this phenomenon was found in
 Oxidative wear. Oxygen was detected on the tool by this study.
EDS X-ray. High temperature increases potential for
oxidation in normal atmospheric air. Oxidative wear
Acknowledgements
occurs when a reaction with oxygen produces an oxide
layer on the surface of the tool. This is likely to happen
This research is sponsored by the US Department of
after every hole drilling when the tool has fresh surface
Energy, Office of FreedomCAR and Vehicle Technologies,
under high temperature. The removal rate and wear of
and was performed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory,
the oxide layer are important to determine the contribu-
which is managed under Contract DE-AC05-00OR22725
tion of oxidative wear.
with UT-Battelle LLC. Program management and techni-
 Abrasive wear. The circular grooves in the tool conical
cal guidance by Dr. Phil Sklad and assistance by Randy
and center regions suggested abrasive wear. This is the
Parten, are greatly appreciated, as was the assistance of
form of wear which occurs when the hard particles of
Brian Jolly and Chris Cofer in machining.
WC, that were dislodged due to adhesive wear, slide on
the surface of the tool and plough grooves into it. This is
the three-body wear with the three bodies being the tool, References
workpiece, and dislodged WC particles.
[1] S.F. Miller, H. Wang, R. Li, A.J. Shih, Experimental and numerical
5. Conclusions analysis of the friction drilling process, Journal of Manufacturing
Science and Engineering 128 (3) (2006) 802–810.
[2] S.F. Miller, P. Blau, A.J. Shih, Micostructural alterations associated
The wear of a friction drilling tool was minimal after with friction drilling of steel, aluminum, and titanium, Journal of
producing 11,000 holes in a low carbon steel workpiece. Materials Engineering and Performance 14 (5) (2005) 647–653.
The hard carbide tool proved to be durable. Precise [3] S.F. Miller, J. Tao, A.J. Shih, Friction drilling of cast metals,
measurements of tool dimensions indicated that the wear International Journal of Machine Tool and Manufacture 46 (2006)
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