Process signals characterisation to enable adaptive drilling of aerospace stacks

When drilling multi-material stacked structures, carrying out adaptive drilling would allow for the utilisation of optimal parameters throughout the drilling cycle. This research work focuses on establishing relationships between process incidences and signals recorded from different sensors when drilling aerospace stacks, as well as the effects of tool wear on these relationships. Drilling tests were carried out while recording cutting forces, acceleration and acoustic emission, at different stages of tool wear. All signals were found to strongly correlate with process incidences, suggesting that they could be used as sources of information for decision-making in a process monitoring system.