Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2006) 27: 688–692
DOI 10.1007/s00170-004-2255-8
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Gwo-Lianq Chern · Han-Jou Lee
Using workpiece vibration cutting for micro-drilling
Received: 23 July 2003 / Accepted: 24 May 2004 / Published online: 23 February 2005
© Springer-Verlag London Limited 2005
Abstract The purpose of this paper is to investigate the ef-
fects of assisted vibration on the drilling quality of aluminium
alloy (Al 6061-T6) and structure steel (SS41). In the past, re-
search methodology of vibration drilling on small-diameter holes
has mainly involved vibrating from the spindle side. In this pa-
per, a new approach to obtain the desired vibration is proposed
from the workpiece side, by a self-made, vibrating worktable.
Through extensive experiments with a twist drill size of 0.5 mm,
we found that hole oversize, displacement of the hole centre, and
surface roughness of the drilled wall could be improved with the
increase of vibrating frequency and amplitude. Roundness of the
drilled hole could also be improved when high amplitude and
proper frequency are imposed.
Keywords Micro-drilling · Precision machining ·
Vibration cutting · Vibration drilling
1 Introduction
Vibration cutting (VC) is a cutting method in which a certain
frequency of vibration is applied to the cutting tool or the work-
piece (besides the original relative motion between these two) to
achieve better cutting performance. Some reports can be found
in the literature on turning with ultrasonic vibration [1–4]. Ultra-
precision ductile cutting of glass could be achieved by applying
ultrasonic vibration in the cutting direction [1]. Materials with
poor machinability are found to be machined effectively under
the assistance of VC. Thus, a wider range of ductile cutting and
better surface finish of machined glass can be obtained. The
method of ultrasonic vibration cutting has also been applied to
the turning of machinable glass ceramics [2], and the diamond
G.-L. Chern (u) · H.-J. Lee
Dept. of Mechanical Engineering,
National Yunlin University of Science and Technology,
Yunlin, Taiwan 640, Taiwan, R.O.C.
E-mail: CHERNGL@yuntech.edu.tw
Tel.: +886-5-5342601 ext. 4145
turning of stainless steel [3]. The surface finish of the ultra-
sonic vibration aided turning (UVAT) can be improved up to four
grades when UVAT is applied in the z-coordinate [4].
Drilling is another field of application and study of VC. Early
related studies were mainly focused on the precision drilling of
wood [5, 6]. Steel and aluminium also drew some attentions in
the use of vibration drilling, either in low frequency or within
the ultrasonic range, to prolong tool life and help reduce burr
sizes [7–9]. Adachi et al. [8] used a electro-hydraulic servo
system to cause low frequency vibration cutting (maximum of
100 Hz) in the spindle of an NC vertical milling machine. In
their experimental studies on drilling of aluminium, they found
that burr size could be reduced significantly with VC. Zhang
et al. [10] developed an axial ultrasonic vibration microdrilling
technology and found that large amplitude is beneficial in im-
proving the cutting ability of a chisel edge and in reducing the
skidding motion of the chisel edge and hole oversize. Onikura et
al. [11] used a piezo-actuator at a frequency of 40 KHz to cause
ultrasonic vibration in the drilling spindle. They found the effects
of decreasing hole oversize, reducing the friction between the
chip and rake face, helping chip removal from the hole, and im-
proving surface roughness. The reasons for these effects are that
the use of ultrasonic vibration reduces the friction between chip
and rake face, causes chips thinner and then considerably reduces
the cutting forces. Furthermore, the drilling mechanisms and
chip-breaking theories in VC have also been investigated [12].
Research has found [13] that the heat generated during vibra-
tion drilling is effectively reduced. Also, the friction of the drill
can be reduced accordingly by the formation of oxide films on
the tool rake face. The decreased cutting force makes the chip
thinner and easier to escape from the workpiece hole. It also
prevents the burr formation at the entrance and the exit sides
with low cutting forces. Thus, overall drilling quality is ensured
with VC.
Vibration of high or low frequency can improve the drilling
performance of small-diameter holes, but research methodology
in the past was mainly to vibrate with micro-amplitudes from
the spindle side. The complexity of vibration devices is hence
significantly increased. In this paper, a new approach to obtain

the desired vibration is proposed by a self-made, vibrating work-
table. We create the vibration from the workpiece side and do
not have to change anything with the machining centre. In this
way, vibration and an actuator are utilized to instantly produce
micro-amplitude vibration via piezo-electrical materials, and to
cooperate with linear guideways to ensure uni-directional vibra-
tion. This is a simpler way of achieving high cutting efficiency,
since the micro-amplitudes vibration is instantly produced. Fre-
quencies from 1 KHz to 10 KHz are used in this paper to improve
the quality of drilling small-diameter holes. A series of experi-
ments was conducted to consider the effects of factors, such as
the vibrating frequency and magnitudes of amplitude, on pro-
cessing small-diameter holes with workpiece vibration.
2 Experimental method and equipments
The cost of hardware improvements normally increases expo-
nentially as the with increasing precision requirements. Piezo-
electric actuators feature the characteristics of good precision,
fast response and large driving force. A stacked piezoelectric ac-
tuator has a relatively short maximum travel, often less than 100
microns and the bandwidth is limited by either structural reson-
ance or power amplification. Thus, piezoelectric actuators appear
to be an ideal solution to the high-precision machining prob-
lem. In this paper, we use a piezoelectric actuator in conjunction
with a relatively simple structural design for generating the de-
sired vibration. We first made a vibrating worktable containing
a piezoelectric actuator and two linear guideways, as shown in
Fig. 1.
The design for this vibration worktable is based on the fol-
lowing considerations:
1. The stiffness of the whole structure must be enough to with-
stand the dynamic loads of the vibration and the resistant
loads of drilling. This worktable is made of high strength
stainless steel to provide enough stiffness.
2. The worktable must possess dimensional and geometric ac-
curacy. This will minimize the incidence of unexpected
disturbance during the experiments. The parallelism is con-
trolled within 4 µm/80 mm, and the perpendicularity is
within 2 µm/150 mm. Both data were measured by dial
indicators.
3. Piezoelectric ceramics can withstand high pushing forces but
are brittle and cannot withstand high pulling or shear forces.
Fig. 1. Vibrating worktable for micro-drilling
689
The application must isolate these undesirable forces which
could endanger the structural integrity of the ceramic ma-
terial. Thus, two linear guideways were used to ensure the
uni-axial motion of the piezoelectric actuator. The weight of
the work holder should also be kept to a minimum, since it
will influence the behavior of the piezoelectric actuator.
4. Piezoelectric actuators operate as capacitive loads. In dy-
namic applications, the power consumption increases lin-
early with frequency and actuator capacitance. To achieve
high-frequency vibration, the power supply must provide
enough charging currents. In this research, we used a Physik
Instrument (PI)-made piezoelectric actuator (model
P-245.30), along with a high-power amplifier (PI model
E-472.00). The maximum pushing force of the P-245.30 ac-
tuator is 2000 N; its maximum frequency is 16 kHz. The
output voltage of E-472.00 is from 0 to −1000 V. Its peak
current is 50 mA.
Other experimental equipment is described as follows:
1. Machining center (MC-1050P, Mitsubishi-520AM con-
troller): the range of the spindle speed is 45 rpm to 6000 rpm.
2. Laser displacement meter (Keyence LC-2430): the sampling
rate of this sensor is 50 KHz; the resolution is 0.01 µm, and
the laser beam spot is 12 µm. The vibration amplitude of the
workpiece with the piezoelectric actuator was measured by
this highly-accurate instrument.
3. Toolmakers’ microscope (Olympus-STM): the measuring of
the hole diameter and the observation of the tool wear were
carried out by this instrument. It possesses a maximum mag-
nification of 600 times.
4. Waveform generator (HP-33120A): this is to provide the
piezoelectric actuator P-245.30 with the waveform and the
frequency of the desired vibration.
5. Twist drill: constructed of super-fine tungsten steel, with
a diameter of 0.5 mm, a flute length of 8.5 mm, an included
angle of 130◦ , a helix angle of 30◦ , first relieve angle of 15◦ ,
and a second relieve angle of 30◦ .
6. Work material: aluminium alloy Al 6061-T6 and stainless
steel SS41 were tested.
7. Cutting fluid: mineral oil.
There are several ways to evaluate the “quality” of a drilled hole.
The method of analysis is as follows:
1. Displacement of the hole center: to get reliable data, the
workpieces were cut and polished to precise pieces (90 mm ×
50 mm × 8 mm). We used a 1 mm end mill to create an orth-
ogonal L-shaped groove on each workpiece for the purpose
of precise measurement. The corner of the groove became the
origin of an X-Y coordinate on the workpiece surface.
2. Surface roughness of the drilled wall: it is hard to measure,
especially when the hole diameter is less than 1 mm. Thus,
EDM wire cutter (Charmilles Technologies – Robofil 300)
was employed to cut the workpieces in halves. The hole wall
surface could then be examined qualitatively under the tool-
makers’ microscope.
3. Roundness of the drilled hole: given the limitations of the
measuring equipment available, we measured the hole diam-
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eters in four directions (0◦ , 45◦ , 90◦ , 135◦ ) and used the 0.040
maximum difference among the data (Dmax −Dmin) to repre-

displacement (mm)
0.030
sent the roundness.
4. Hole oversize: the difference between the measured average
0.020
diameter on the entrance and the drill size (0.5 mm).
0.010

3 Results and discussion 0.000

0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 12000
The effect of vibrating frequency on the hole oversize of SS41
is shown in Fig. 2. Spindle speed, feed rate and vibrating ampli- frequency (Hz)
tude were 2000 rpm, 3 µm/rev and 10 µm, respectively. It can be Fig. 4. Variation of displacement versus vibrating frequency (SS41,
2000 rpm, 3 µm/rev, amp. = 10 µm)
seen that the hole oversize decreases as the vibrating frequency
increases. The hole oversize is 29 µm for 1 KHz, but this value
drops to only 5 µm for 10 KHz. High-frequency vibration results
in the rapid separation of the drill and the workpiece; this helps
to reduce the heat generated during drilling. High-frequency also
increases the cutting velocity, thus causing a low cutting force.
Figure 3 shows the effect of vibrating frequency on the
roundness of SS41. It doesn’t show any pattern of the variation.
We obtained the optimum value of 2 µm with 7000 Hz. But the
roundness deteriorated with higher vibrating frequency. Since
tool wear is more prominent as frequency increases (as found by Fig. 5. Variation of hole oversize versus vibrating amplitude (SS41,
Jin and Murakawa [13]), we did not see any further improvement 2000 rpm, 3 µm/rev, 10 KHz)
to the roundness.
The effect of vibrating frequency on the displacement of the
hole center is shown in Fig. 4. The work material is SS41. We
found that the deviation of the drilled hole was greatly reduced
with the increase in frequency. When the drill tip first contacts
the workpiece, high-frequency vibration helps the drill align to
the desired position.
Figures 5 and 6 show the variation of hole oversize with vi-
brating amplitude, for SS41 and Al 6061-T6, respectively. It can

Fig. 6. Variation of hole oversize versus vibrating amplitude (Al 6061-T6,

1000 rpm, 5 µm/rev, 10 KHz)

Fig. 2. Variation of hole oversize versus vibrating frequency (SS41,
2000 rpm, 3 µm/rev, amp. = 10 µm)
Fig. 3. Variation of roundness versus vibrating frequency (SS41, 2000 rpm,
3 µm/rev, amp. = 10 µm)
be seen that larger amplitudes tend to create more room for the
separation between the drill and the workpiece, and more lubri-
cant can reach the cutting edge and carry away the heat generated
during the drilling operation. Thus, the drill will retain its hard-
ness and sharpness. Also, cutting force is reduced and becomes
more stable and uniform during each revolution. As a result, the
fluctuation of radial force decreases. Thus, the roundness is also
improved, as can be seen in Fig. 7 for Al 6061-T6. The roundness
is 3 µm when the amplitude is 1 µm, while the roundness value
drops to only 1 µm when the amplitude is 10 µm.
The use of VC enhances the cutting speed. However, when
the cutting speed increases, so does cutting tool wear. Also, chip-
ping might be caused by the colliding or rubbing of the drill
and the workpiece. Thus, the number of holes that can be ma-
chined by a drill under a certain machining condition tends to
decrease when high-frequency is imposed. This can be seen in
Table 1 for Al 6061-T6, and in Table 2 for SS41. Here, 0 Hz
means that no vibration is imposed. The use of vibration at high-
 691

Fig. 7. Variation of roundness versus vibrating amplitude (Al 6061- Fig. 9a,b. Photos showing hole walls: a without and b with vibration
T6,1000 rpm, 5 µm/rev, 10 KHz)

the edge. A perfectly circular shape can be obtained with the help
Table 1. Number of drilled holes of Al 6061-T6 under different rpm and
vibrating frequencies (feed = 15 µm/rev, amp. = 10 µm) of the vibration.
Figure 9 shows two photos of the hole wall surfaces of Al
rpm 0 Hz 1 KHz 5 KHz 10 KHz 6061-T6, taken by a toolmakers’ microscope. Their drilling qual-
ity is very easy to recognize. Without vibration, scratches and
1000 152 145 127 113 irregularities appeared on the wall surface. When the machined
2000 148 137 122 104
3000 137 125 103 92 chips could not be carried away from the drilled hole effectively,
the highly-hardened chips could easily damage the drilled wall.
On the other hand, when vibration of amplitude = 10 µm and
frequency = 10 KHz was added, the surface finish was much
Table 2. Number of drilled holes of SS41 under different rpm and vibrating
frequencies (feed = 7 µm/rev, amp. = 10 µm)
improved.

rpm 0 Hz 1 KHz 5 KHz 10 KHz

1000 114 118 103 96 4 Conclusion

2000 96 108 91 88
3000 83 94 84 71
frequency makes the drill less durable. We also found that for
SS41, the use of 1 KHz obtained the longest tool life among the
chosen parameters. Since SS41 is much harder than Al 6061-T6,
we believe that the low-frequency vibration helps to reduce the
cutting forces and to prolong tool life. Similarly, vibration ampli-
tude should have certain effects on tool life. However, it was not
considered in this research.
Figure 8 shows two typical photos of Al 6061-T6 specimens
taken from the entrance side. The comparison of the drilling
quality is very clear. Without vibration, large cutting forces
tend to push the uncut material around to form the machined
burrs. On the contrary, when vibration of amplitude = 10 µm and
frequency = 10 KHz was added, almost no burrs were found on
In this paper, we developed a vibrating worktable with the de-
sired vibration created on the workpiece side. From this research,
we draw three conclusions:
1. Through extensive experiments, we found that hole oversize,
displacement of the hole center and surface roughness of the
drilled wall could be improved with the increase of vibrating
frequency and amplitude.
2. Roundness of the drilled hole could also be improved when
high amplitude and proper frequency are imposed.
3. Vibrating frequency has a negative effect on the drill life.
Number of holes that can be machined by a drill tends to
decrease with the increase of vibrating frequency.
It has been shown that the new methodology of workpiece
vibration on micro-drilling is a successful one.
Acknowledgement The authors would like to thank the National Science
Council of the Republic of China for financially supporting this research
under contract no. NSC-87-2212-E-224-009.

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