Smart process parameters adaptation for drilling of CFRP and AA7075 stacks
Martina Panico, Eva Begemann, Andreas Gebhardt, Felix Hartmann, Tobias Herrmann, Antonio Langella, Luca Boccarusso
Abstract. This work explores a self-adaptive strategy for one-up drilling of CFRP/AA7075-T6 stacks, leveraging spindle active power monitoring for real-time parameter adjustments. The method enables precise detection of the material interface, ensuring optimal process conditions for each material without requiring additional sensors. Key quality metrics—burr height and delamination factor—were analysed under various switching conditions. Results reveal that switching parameters when the cutting edge fully engages the aluminium layer minimizes interface defects and enhances hole quality. The strategy proves superior to compromise parameter sets, reducing delamination in CFRP and burr formation in AA7075-T6, while maintaining productivity. This adaptive approach demonstrates high reliability and industrial applicability, offering significant improvements in hybrid material drilling for aerospace manufacturing.
Keywords
Power-Based Process Control, Drilling Defects, One-Up Drilling
Published online 5/7/2025, 10 pages
Copyright © 2025 by the author(s)
Published under license by Materials Research Forum LLC., Millersville PA, USA
Citation: Martina Panico, Eva Begemann, Andreas Gebhardt, Felix Hartmann, Tobias Herrmann, Antonio Langella, Luca Boccarusso, Smart process parameters adaptation for drilling of CFRP and AA7075 stacks, Materials Research Proceedings, Vol. 54, pp 1664-1673, 2025
DOI: https://doi.org/10.21741/9781644903599-179
The article was published as article 179 of the book Material Forming
Content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.
References
[1] Soni R, Verma R, Kumar Garg R, Sharma V. A critical review of recent advances in the aerospace materials. Mater Today Proc 2023. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2023.08.108
[2] Jobanpreet Singh, Srivastawa K, Jana S, Dixit C, S R. Advancements in Lightweight Materials for Aerospace Structures: A Comprehensive Review. Accel Aerosp J 2024;2:173–83. https://doi.org/10.61359/11.2106-2409
[3] Jiao F, Li Y, Niu Y, Zhang Z, Bie W. A review on the drilling of CFRP/Ti stacks: Machining characteristics, damage mechanisms and suppression strategies at stack interface. Compos Struct 2023;305:116489. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compstruct.2022.116489
[4] Araujo AC, Landon Y, Lagarrigue P. Smart drilling for Aerospace Industry: state of art in research and education. Procedia CIRP 2021;99:387–91. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procir.2021.03.105
[5] Aamir M, Giasin K, Tolouei-Rad M, Vafadar A. A review: drilling performance and hole quality of aluminium alloys for aerospace applications. J Mater Res Technol 2020;9:12484–500. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmrt.2020.09.003
[6] de Mello JMG, Trabasso LG, Silva AVS, de Oliveira WR. Clamping force model application on the aircraft structural assembly. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 2023;124:1951–69. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-022-10555-y
[7] Krall S, Prießnitz M, Baumann C, Brandt P, Bleicher F. Avoidance of Drill Cap Formation in CFRP-Titanium Stack Materials by Using Vibration Assisted Drilling with Defined Coupling of the Oscillation. J Mach Eng 2023. https://doi.org/10.36897/jme/166274
[8] Zhao M, Wang F, Fu R, Sun K, Du C, Cui J. Drilling study on CFRP/Al stack with different CFRP thickness using chip-breaking step drill bit. J Manuf Process 2023;90:300–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmapro.2023.01.050
[9] Mahdi A, Turki Y, Habak M, Salem M, Bouaziz Z. Experimental study of thrust force and surface quality when drilling hybrid stacks. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 2020;107:3981–94. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-020-05252-7
[10] Yan C, Chen Y, Qian N, Guo N, Wang Y, Yang H, et al. Adaptive Approaches to Identify the Interface in Low Frequency Vibration-Assisted Drilling of CFRP/Ti6Al4V Stacks. Int J Precis Eng Manuf 2022;23:895–909. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12541-022-00659-6
[11] Haoua AA, Rey P-A, Cherif M, Abisset-Chavanne E, Yousfi W. Material recognition method to enable adaptive drilling of multi-material aerospace stacks. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 2024;131:779–96. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-023-12046-0
[12] Hu X, Zhang C, Wang S, Yu F, Wang Z. Investigation of self-adaptive drilling of CFRP/Al stacks based on equivalent impedance recognition of the vibration-assisted device. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 2022;123:1641–56. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-022-10267-3
[13] Axinte D, Gindy N. Assessment of the effectiveness of a spindle power signal for tool condition monitoring in machining processes. Int J Prod Res 2004;42:2679–91. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207540410001671642
[14] Wang Q, Zhang D, Chen B, Zhang Y, Wu B. Energy Consumption Model for Drilling Processes Based on Cutting Force. Appl Sci 2019;9:4801. https://doi.org/10.3390/app9224801
[15] Assurin SR, Mativenga P, Cooke K, Sun H, Field S, Walker M, et al. Establishing cutting conditions for dry drilling of aluminium alloy stack materials. Proc Inst Mech Eng B J Eng Manuf 2024;238:214–22. https://doi.org/10.1177/09544054221147712
[16] Zhu W, Fu H, Li F, Ji X, Li Y, Bai F. Optimization of CFRP drilling process: a review. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 2022;123:1403–32. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-022-10112-7
[17] Wang Q, Jia X. Optimization of cutting parameters for improving exit delamination, surface roughness, and production rate in drilling of CFRP composites. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 2021;117:3487–502. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-021-07918-2
[18] Panico M, Begemann E, Gebhardt A, Hartmann F, Herrmann T, Langella A, et al. Process parameter auto-adaptation strategy for one-up drilling of CFRP/aluminium hybrid stack. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 2024. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-024-14753-8
[19] Aamir M, Tolouei-Rad M, Giasin K, Vafadar A, Koklu U, Keeble W. Evaluation of the Surface Defects and Dimensional Tolerances in Multi-Hole Drilling of AA5083, AA6061, and AA2024. Appl Sci 2021;11:4285. https://doi.org/10.3390/app11094285
[20] Panico M, Durante M, Langella A, Boccarusso L. One-shot drilling process for thin CFRP/Aluminium alloys stacks. Mater Manuf Process 2024:1–16. https://doi.org/10.1080/10426914.2024.2311383
[21] Jia Z, Chen C, Wang F, Zhang C. Analytical study of delamination damage and delamination-free drilling method of CFRP composite. J Mater Process Technol 2020;282:116665. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2020.116665
