Automatic drilling in material stacks, aluminium and titanium alloys, steel or Inconel

Top process security with customised solutions

Increased automation will undoubtedly be a feature of aircraft construction in the future – not least due to its greater efficiency, accuracy and reproducible quality. The use of drilling robots will herald the emergence of CNC-controlled, variable cutting parameters and even vibration drilling.

We develop customised solutions in diameters from 2.5 to 30 mm for all combinations of CFRP/GFRP aluminium and titanium alloys, steel, Inconel and honeycomb structures.

Whether it’s the high-speed drilling of CFRP or extended tool life and drilling quality accompanied by top levels of process security: Team Cutting Tools is a reliable guide that will give you a flying start into the automated manufacturing of the future.

Technology: dry drilling, one-way assembly

Dry drilling and one-way assembly are part of the essential vocabulary of cost-effective aircraft assembly. Dry drilling using today’s state-of-the-art technology is possible in CFRP and pure aluminium packages and in CFRP-aluminium stacks. We develop special geometries with adapted diamond coatings. Cutting tools for one-way assembly go a step further and ensure a totally contaminant-free process within sealed structures. Disassemble before cleaning? Never again!

Special geometry with adapted diamond coating

Materials – machining options

Many years of experience with all common single and mixed material stacks in the aerospace industry, plus other combinations, e.g. with steel or Inconel.

Material stacks: stronger together

Customised tools

Material stacks consisting of at least two different materials present machinists with a tricky situation, one that has a number of contrasting characteristics. Our mission? We develop a compromise tool package that delivers the best possible results for each material while at the same time satisfying the requirements in terms of burr formation, projecting fibres, delaminations, tolerances and surface qualities. An essential prerequisite in this quest are individual tools that are tailored to the application in terms of both their micro and macrogeometry. If your processes need to maintain a consistently high performance level, then sooner or later you’ll be talking to us. After all, top-quality tool production to tight manufacturing tolerances are part and parcel of our all-inclusive offering.

Technical data

  • Coated solid carbide countersink
  • Material package Alu (4 mm–6 mm) – Ti (2 mm)
  • Machine: robot with end effector 1300 rpm and 0.1 mm/rev.
  • Tool life of 5000 holes for both material combinations

Advantages/benefits

  • Special tool with adapted cutting edge geometry for optimum performance in both materials
  • Use of a special carbide-coating combination with outstanding bonding properties
  • Increase tool life with a special coating that reduces frictional forces during the process and prevents adhesion
  • Special countersinking angle geometry prevents vibrations and helps improve countersink surfaces