In-situ experimental investigation using chemical-assisted rotary ultrasonic drilling process on fragile material

In this industrialization era, ceramic and glass machining companies are looking for promising machining techniques to get protruding machining quality, especially for fragile-brittle materials. Structural and manufacturing applications such as micro-channels, solar panels, and metrological comparators are some float glass-based daily used products in the energy sector. Still, the machining defects exemplified as drilled surface roughness are a major concern to address. Therefore, the authors have performed an in-situ experimentation analysis of chemical-assisted Rotary ultrasonic machining on float glass. In this study, the analysis of surface roughness and tool wear has been computed which has been reported as manufacturing applications. The in-situ experiments have been performed while drilling chemically dipped float glass specimens. The Hydrofluoric (HF) acid-based chemical concentration is deployed in three levels of 0%, 2.5%, and 5% in the solution of water and HF acid. The analysis results reported that the lowest value of surface roughness (0.95 μm) is observed at 5% HF solution. XRD analysis shows the adequate weight% age of fluorine (F) in the drilled sample that fascinates smooth drilling. Further, magnified microscopic images of the used tool revealed that the diffusion wear and chemical wear lead to a final wear flat that opens the doors for a prospect tool selection study that can make the CRUM process more efficient. Hence, it is assessed that ‘Chemical assisted Rotary ultrasonic machining (CRUM)’ is reported as a future trending machining technique. The cutting-edge contribution is to improve the surface integrity of machined fragile-brittle material and enhance its application.