Hole damage in drilling of reactive powder concrete (RPC)

The present investigation deals with the analysis of hole damage in drilling of Reactive Powder Concrete (RPC). Attention was first focused on the definition of an original approach based on Digital Image Processing (DIP) to quantify the extent of the damage. Then, an experimental approach, based on Design of Experiments (DoE), was performed to evaluate the influence of drilling operational parameters (namely, cutting speed, feed and hole diameter) on the thrust force, torque and RPC hole accuracy. The extents of hole damage were found to be influenced by the settings of feed and hole diameter, with cutting speed playing a role of minor importance. Tool vibrations as well as troublesome centering procedures of the tools during drilling further complicate the interpretation of the hole damage.