Design and manufacture of a taper thermosyphon drill for dry drilling operations

Abstract: Previous studies have indicated that the use of metal working fluids is harmful and poses health risks, also indicating that they are increasingly expensive. There is a drive to look for more environmentally friendly methods of machining, one such being the option of removing the need to use metal working fluids to cool off drill bits. There are studies which have highlighted the option of dry drilling without use of metal working fluids. Dry drilling has been researched and methods such as the minimal use of cutting fluid have proved to reduce the temperature of the drill bit during drilling to a certain extent when compared to the full use of metal working fluid. Dry drilling introduces options which include the use of a thermosiphon for reducing temperature of the drill bit tip, during drilling operations. The use of thermosiphons has been proved to be the most effective in cooling drill bits for dry drilling. This study focused on the design, manufacturing and testing of a reverse tapered thermosiphon, which is efficient for evaporation and condensation within a drill bit for dry drilling operations. The methodology consisted of a virtual design and a stress analysis conducted on the reverse tapered thermosyphon through the use of SolidWorks software. The stress analysis conducted on the drill bit demonstrated optimal positions of the largest diameter of the taper thermosyphon and distance from the cutting edge...M.Phil. (Mechanical Engineering