Modeling and mitigation of vortex formation in ejector deep hole drilling with smoothed particle hydrodynamics

Ejector deep hole drilling achieves high-quality boreholes in production processes. High feed rates are applied to ensure a high productivity level, requiring reliable chip removal from the cutting zone for a stable process. Therefore, a constant metalworking fluid flow under high volume flow rates or high pressure is required. Experimental results show a vortex formation at the outer cutting edge. This vortex can lead to delayed chip removal from the cutting zone, and ultimately, it can lead to chip clogging and result in drill breakage due to increased torque. This paper investigates modified drill head designs using the smoothed particle hydrodynamics method. The investigated modifications include various designs of the chip mouth covering. Besides graphical analysis based on flow visualizations, flow meters are placed at the tool’s head to evaluate the impact of the modifications on the flow rate and possible increased resistance and relocation of the fluid flow from the outer cutting edge to other parts of the tool. The simulation results for the reference design show the experimentally observed vortex formation, validating the simulation model. By adding the tool’s rotation in the SPH simulation, which is not included in the experiments for observation reasons, the vortex formation is positively influenced. In addition, some designs show promising results to further mitigate the vortex formation while maintaining a sufficient fluid flow around the cutting edges.