Gun drilling is a typical double-edged cutting, and both the drill's inner and outer cutting edges are involved in the processing. When the inner edge contacts and rotates with the surface of the workpiece, the metal inside the workpiece will be cut to form a finer chip. When the outer edge contacts and rotates with the outer wall of the workpiece, the outer wall will be cut to produce a wider and thinner chip. In addition, the cutting speed of the outer edge is greater than that of the inner edge, which will produce extrusion creases at the junction of the inner and outer edges. According to the research of Li Liang et al. the chip forming process during deep hole gun drilling can be divided into four stages: lateral curling stage, spiral initiation stage, spiral chip forming stage, and chip fracture separation stage. Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the chip-forming process[9–11].
1) Chip lateral curling stage
In the early stage of deep hole gun drilling, when the tool contacts the surface of the workpiece, the inner and outer edges of the drill begin to cut metal materials. At this stage, the cutting edge applies the cutting force to the workpiece, and the metal starts to cut, but the chip has not yet completely separated from the surface of the workpiece. Due to the ductility of the metal, the chip will curl laterally along the surface of the workpiece. Figure 3 is the chip lateral curling stage.
2) Spiral initial stage
As shown in Fig. 4, under the action of feed and rotation of the drill bit, the inner and outer cutting edges participate in the processing simultaneously, and the chips begin to form. When the feed reaches a certain depth, the chips first contact the V-groove wall surface, and the chips begin to be subjected to the resistance applied by the V-groove wall surface. Due to the design and shape of the V-groove, it will guide the chips to curl up along the wall surface. When the chip is in contact with the hole wall, the chip is subjected to the friction force between the chip and the hole wall and the axial force applied by the drill bit, and the second upward curl begins to occur.
3) Spiral chip forming stage
The chip length increases as the gun drill deepens, and the chip gradually becomes a spiral shape. Before the final fracture of the chip, multiple spiral curl cycles can be formed. The chips will continue to curl, fall off, and re-form from the workpiece until the chips reach a certain length, encounter obstacles, and finally break. As shown in Fig. 5, the spiral chip formation stage, in this stage, the chip is subjected to the resultant force Fw applied by the hole wall and the resistance Fv applied by the V-groove so that the spiral chip begins to form, Vf is the generation speed of the chip in the feed direction, and Vcf is the generation speed of the spiral chip.
In addition, the degree of chip curling will be affected by the coolant force Fl. Figure 6 shows the effect of coolant on the chip curling radius. In the absence of coolant supply, the curl radius of the chip is Rc1; under the action of coolant, the chip curls and deforms, and the curl radius increases to RC2.
4) Chip fracture separation stage
304 stainless steel is a typical difficult-to-machine material, and the fracture mechanism is very complex. The cutting speed of the inner and outer edges of the gun drill is different, and the cutting temperature is also different, resulting in different fracture mechanisms. The cutting speed of the inner edge is smaller than that of the outer edge, and the cutting temperature is lower. There are more 'river patterns 'on the chip fracture, mainly brittle fracture. The high temperature generated during the cutting of the outer edge leads to the softening of the workpiece, and the chips are primarily ductile fractures.
According to the theoretical analysis of the chip forming process, it can be concluded that the chip forming in the process of the gun drill is closely related to the angle of the inner and outer edges of the gun drill bit, the material of the workpiece, the processing parameters and the pressure of the coolant.