Mathematical modeling of coolant flow in discontinuous drilling processes with temperature coupling

Abstract

Nickel-based alloys, like Inconel 718, are widely used in industrial applications due to their high-temperature strength and high toughness. However, machining such alloys is a challenging task because of high thermal loads at the cutting edge and thus extensive tool wear is expected. Consequently, the development of new process strategies is needed. We will consider the discontinuous drilling process with coolant. The main idea is to interrupt the drilling process in order to let the coolant to flow around the cutting edge and to reduce thermal loads. Since measurements inside the borehole are (nearly) impossible, simulations are a key tool to analyze and understand the proposed process.

In this paper, a 3D fluid flow simulation model with Q2P1 Finite Elements in combination with the Fictitious Boundary Method is presented to simulate the coolant flow around the drill inside the borehole. The underlying equations are transformed into a rotational frame of reference overcoming the challenges of mesh design for high rotational domains inside the fluid domain. Special treatment of Coriolis forces is developed, that modifies the ‘Pressure Poisson’ Problem in the projection step improving the solver for high angular velocities. To further take high velocities into account, a two-scale artificial diffusion technique is introduced to stabilize the simulation. Finally, Q1 Finite Elements are used to simulate the heating and cooling processes in both the tool and the coolant during the complete discontinuous drilling process. The simulation is split into a ‘contact’ and a ‘no contact’ phase and a coupling strategy between these phases is developed. FBM is utilized to switch between the two configurations, thus only one unified grid for both configurations is needed. The results are used to gain insight into the discontinuous drilling process and to optimize the process design.