Burr Formation in

Conventional Drilling

• Introduction
• Effects of Burr
• Types of Burrs
• Mechanism of burr formation
• Minimization of Burr
• Methods Of Deburring

By:
Soumya mahapatra
(soumya_00457@yahoo.co.in)

Jyoti Ranjan Nayak

(jyotiranjan_541@yahoo.com)
 INT RODU CT IO N
In engineering, a burr refers to the raised edge on a
metal part. It may be present in the form of a fine wire on
the edge of a freshly sharpened tool or as a raised portion
on a surface, after being struck a blow from an equally hard
or heavy object. More specifically, burrs are generally
unwanted material remaining after a machining operation
such as grinding, drilling, milling, or turning. These are
undesirable projections of materials beyond the edge of the
work-piece arising because of plastic deformation during
machining.
EFFE CTS OF B URR
The past years have seen emphasis on increasing the
quality of machined work pieces while at the same time
reducing the cost per piece. Accompanying this is the
decreasing size and increasing complexity of work pieces.
Burr formation in machining accounts for a significant
portion of machining costs for manufacturers throughout
the world. Drilling burrs, for example, are common when
drilling almost any material. As one could imagine, the cost
and time needed to perform these drilling and deburring
operations (process of removal of burr) is significant.
Recently, because of miniaturization and increased
precision of the machined parts, the size of burrs has been
also reduced and deburring became even more difficult

Burrs formed during machining are the cause of many

industrial problems. Burrs can cause many problems during
inspection, assembly and automated manufacturing of
precision components. They usually reduce the quality of
machined parts and can cause interference, jamming and
misalignment of parts. Because of their sharpness, they can
be a safety hazard to personnel. Burrs may reduce the
fatigue life of components and can damage them. Burrs in
machined work pieces are real “productivity killers”.

The deburring processes are included in manufacturing,

which increase the production cost and require a significant
amount of time .The selection of an appropriate deburring
method depends on the dimensions, type of work piece,
and the location of the burr. Thus burr sizes must be
controlled for the optimal choice of a deburring process.

The costs associated with removing these burrs are

substantial. The typical costs as a percentage of
manufacturing cost varies up to 30% for high precision
components such as aircraft engines, etc. In automotive
components, the total amount of deburring cost for a part
of medium complexity is approximately 14% of
manufacturing expenses. The actual investment in
deburring systems increases with part complexity and
precision
 To decrease deburring cost it is necessary to select
mostly proper deburring way and to reduce burr size. These
goals can be reached if burr formation mechanism is
known, which make it possible to predict burr dimensions
and to minimize their appearance by optimum choice of
cutting conditions, tool and work piece geometry.

Small burr size has two immediate benefits, first, it

eliminates the additional cost of deburring the component
and the likelihood of damage during the deburring process
and, second, in the case burrs cannot be eliminated it
improves the effectiveness of any deburring strategy due to
reduced and more standard burr size and shape.
TYPES O F BURR S
Different types of burr can be classified according to their
height and location of burr
According to height of the burr it is classified into two classes
• Uniform burr
• Crown burr

Uniform burr
Uniform burrs are burrs whose height varies in between
1.1mm.Further it is classified into type 1 and type 2 .The
height of type 1 burr varies in between 0.150 mm and that of
type 2 is between 0.150 to1.1mm.The height of the burr is
more uniform in this type of burr.

Uniform burr type I Uniform burr type II

Crown burr
Crown burrs are burrs whose height varies in between
1.1 to 1.5 mm. The height of the burr is not uniform in this
type of burr.
 According to location of burr, there are three types of burr
• Entrance burr
• Interlayer burr
• Exit burr

Entrance burr
The entrance burr is produced on the side of the work piece
where the drill enters; this burr is usually considerably smaller
than the exit burr and is usually of little concern as it may be
removed easily by chamfering the hole.

Exit burr
The exit burr is formed on the opposite side of the work
piece as the drill breaks through. These burrs are usually more
substantial than the entrance burr, and as they are on the
opposite side of the work piece to the machine, they are more
challenging to remove. They can also be located within a
cavity in the work piece where there is no access to the exit
side of the hole

Interlayer burr
When drilling through a number of layers, interlayer burrs
are often formed between the layers. In certain circumstances
these burrs must be removed. In order to do this, it may be
necessary to dismantle the parts to remove the burrs
 Two burrs are produced in the drilling of every hole;
entrance and exit burr

MEC HA NIS M O F BURR FO RM ATI ON

As we see earlier, burrs can be classified according to their
height and location. Now we will go through the mechanism of
formation of burr for each type.

Uniform Burr
As the drill approaches the exit surface, the material under
the chisel edge begins to deform. The distance from the exit
surface to the point where the deformation starts depends on
the thrust force of the drill. As the drill advances, the plastic
deformation zone expands from the center to the edge of the
drill. At the final steps, the remaining material is bent and
pushed out to form a uniform burr with a drill cap. Here the
fracture takes place at the chisel edge. Type 1 and type 2
uniform burr formation has same mechanism. Under small
feed force condition this type of burr is formed.

Crown Burr
A larger
thrust
force
induces
plastic deformation earlier in the process, making the thicker
material layer ahead of the drill undergo plastic deformation,
inducing a larger maximum stress on the exit surface. As a
result, initial rupture will occur at the center. The remaining
material is then bent and pushed out without being cut to
form a relatively large burr

Exit burr
As it can be said that
uniform burr and crown
burr are two types of exit
burr so the mechanism
of formation of exit burr
is same as that of
uniform burr or crown
burr depending on feed
condition.

Entrance Burr
At the beginning of
drilling process, material
bumped up on the
perimeter of the drill-
engaging region because
of the indenting action of
the drill bit. As more part
of cutting edge engages
in machining, hole
diameter becomes larger
and before all the cutting
edge is engaged in the
machining, small amount
of bumps of material is
always observed on the
perimeter of the hole (t
= 1.5 ~ 1.875 sec in).
When almost all cutting edges are engaged, the shape of
bump on the perimeter starts to change from a smooth, round
shape to a biased, shaper shape (t = 2.125). Finally, as all drill
bit engages, i.e. drill completely penetrates through the first
layer; entrance burr remains on the surface. (t = 2.25 ~ 2.625
sec). The shape of remaining burr is uniform around the hole
and slightly bent outward of the hole.

Interlayer Burr
The formation of inter-layer burr is shown in Figure. They
depend on the combination of the upper and the lower
materials, the thickness of
the sealant between layers
and the process
parameters. Here two
plates are being drilled is
shown in the figure at
different instant. Until
around 0.7 second, two
plates bend elastically and
no gap between the two
layers is observed. Axial
displacement of the
observing nodes increases
almost linearly up to 0.34
mm. No material failure
occurs in this stage. Plastic
deformation is limited near
the area around the drill tip
engaged to the drilling. At
around 0.7 second, the
displacement of the
observing nodes falls down
to 0.13 mm and a small gap
starts to form and increases
as the drill advances.
Material starts to fail
around the drill tip area and
element elimination starts
to occur at this stage. Drill
bit starts to engage the
second layer at around t = 2.6 second. Interlayer gap starts to
increase significantly as the first layer starts to spring back
and the second layer is pushed toward feed direction by the
drill bit. Inter-layer gap reaches the maximum at around t =
4.5second and starts to decrease as the second layer starts to
spring back as the plastic deformation of outer surface
increases. From around t = 5.5 second, the displacement of
the node on the entrance surface of the second layer (node 2)
starts to go below that of the node on the exit surface of the
first layer (node 1).This means that the second layer touches
previously formed inter-layer burr.
Typical inter-layer burrs are shown in Figure. In general, as
the drill moves downwards, a large exit burr forms at the exit
surface of the upper material and a small entrance burr forms

at the entrance surface of the lower material. When the

sealant is thick enough, as in Figure (a), (b), and (c), the exit
burr of the upper material is fully developed. If the upper
material is ductile or the process conditions are in a specific
range which results in a large uniform burr , the exit burr
reaches to the top of the entrance burr, Figure (b), and
sometimes it is deformed by hitting the entrance burr, Figure
(c). Depending on the profile of the entrance burr and material
properties such as hardness, the exit burr changes its growing
path inwards, Figure (d), or in the worst case, outwards, Figure
(c). When the sealant is thin, Figure (d), (e), and (f), the
interference between the exit burr and the entrance burr
occurs before the exit burr is fully developed.

MINI MI ZA TI ON OF BURR
As we see that the presence of burr in metals has many ill
effects so different methods are used to minimize the burr.
Some of them are being discussed.
2-Axis Drilling Burr Control Charts
Drilling Burr Control Charts (DBCC) can be used to predict
what type of burr will be formed given certain drilling
parameters, this can be used
to minimize burr or to alter
the type of burr produced.
The first parameter of the
chart is related to the feed
rate and drill diameter. The
thrust force directly affects
the amount of the plastic
deformation of the material
at the final stage of the
drilling process, and as a
result, influences burr
formation. It is known that
increase in the feed rate in
drilling tends to increase the thrust force. Correlation between
feed rate and thrust force with varying drill diameters can be
approximated by applying the shear plane model to the
drilling process
Figure shows the shear plane model applied to a fraction of
the cutting edge of a drill. Together with the Merchant
equation,
φ = π / 4 + (α-l) / 2,
and the expression for the rake angle varying with relative
radius, R. we can calculate the thrust force that is exerted on a
fraction of the cutting edge. Finally total thrust force can be
expressed as:
Where, k is the shear strength of material, f is feed rate
(mm/rev), h is the helix angle, 2κ is the point angle of the drill
and t is the ratio of web thickness to the drill diameter. Since
it is stress that directly influences the burr formation, an
effective stress is considered and can be represented as the
following.

Since the same drill geometry and material are being

considered, it is believed that the effective stress is
determined only by f /d. As a result, f /d influence the final
burr formation and can be used as a parameter for the chart.
Another important parameter is cutting speed, defined as
the product of drill diameter and spindle speed, N. Depending
on the cutting speed, the amount of heat generated at the
cutting edge changes greatly, influencing some properties of
the work piece material. It also affects the rate of tool wear,
especially for the corner wear which is believed to have a
large influence in drilling burr formation
Finally, the parameters for the chart are:

A DBCC is formed using experimental results; they can be used

to relate feed rate (f), drill diameter (d), tool rake angle (α) and
spindle speed (N) to the type of burr produced. An example of a
DBCC is shown in Fig, this is DBCC is for Stainless Steel AISI304L.
Fn is a non dimensionalised feed parameter (=f/d), S is a cutting
parameter (=α*d*N).
Drilling Burr Control Chart for stainless steel (AISI304L) [8] Note: Type I are Uniform burrs, Type
II are transient burrs, Type III are crown burrs

3-Axis Drilling Burr Control Charts

It is possible to add a further axis to the DBCC. This axis

allows the graphs to be applied to different work piece
materials. In order to add the third axis it is necessary to
develop a parameter (G) which will relate the tendency of the
material to produce a burr to some of its material properties.
As the G value increases the tendency to form large burrs
moves towards lower feed and speed rates. An example of a
3-Axis DBCC as developed by Reich-Weise et al is shown in Fig.
3. Fn = f /d, S = (N) (d) 105, G = K−1 (σt−σy) (A+Z) Where σt
= Material tensile strength, σy = Material yield strength, A =
Percent area reduction at fracture, Z = Percent elongation at
fracture, K = A constant used to create a dimensionless
number.
Pre-drilling and pre-chamfering
A study carried out into the effect of pre-drilling and
chamfering the predrilled hole was carried out. This study
found that by pre-drilling it was possible to reduce the size of
burr formed, however it has been shown that chamfering the
predrilled hole can eliminate both
entrance and exit burrs. In order to eliminate the burr the hole
must be chamfered to the final diameter, as illustrated in fig.
In this figure the hole was predrilled (dp) to 2.75mm, the final
hole diameter (D) was 6.1mm.
Burr minimization through drill tip design
Gillespie carried out research into the effects of drill
geometry on burr, he found that increasing helix angle will
reduce burr height by up to 50%, thickness by up to 20% and
radius by 6%.Sofronas presented method to round the drill
cutting edge, increase helix angle and harden the exit surface.
But surface hardening makes a problem since this smaller burr
causes more difficulty to be removed by exit surface
hardening. It was also shown that burr height increases with
drill diameter, however the most important characteristic of a
drill bit in terms of burr minimization is its sharpness. It has
been shown that by changing the tip of the drill it is possible
to minimize the burr which is formed. Lee has also used
method of cutting condition changing, and controlled the
thrust force by changing the feed rate during drilling.

During cutting process of drill, according to point angle,

material's property and cutting condition, plastic deformation
region is formed by the stress caused by cutting resistance in
the slant section remained when drill exits hole as shown in
fig.1, and then burr is formed simultaneously with cutting.
Therefore, as the volume for bending deformation in drilling is
larger, larger exit burr is formed at the same time
Fig.1 shows cutting
process in step drilling.
Unlike conventional
drill, after the front
cutting edge drills
completely, the second
cutting process starts at
the step cutting edge.
During second cutting
process, cutting can be
prolonged until plastic
bending deformation
occurs at the remained
part. The position at
which bending
deformation starts is
determined by the
rigidity of the remained part shown in Fig.1. That’s why, y1, R1
in Fig display critical point where ‘cutting’ is discontinued and
‘bending’ starts and the ‘remains’ is changed to burr. This
critical position is decided by the shape of the remains. When
the stiffness of the part which is bent by thrust force imposed
in drill cutting edge is large enough, no bending occurs and
cutting is continued. As a result, burr formation is delayed and
small burr is formed.
 To find out effects by various geometrical factors, 5 kinds of
drills are designed and manufactured. Usual High Speed Steel
(HSS) drill and carbide drill are used, which are
commercialized. Chamfer drill is designed to have chamfer at
the corner of edge, which is specified as chamfer length, L,
and chamfer angle, θ2, as in Fig.2. Round drill with radius, R,
at corner and step drill with step angle, θ2, and step diameter,
D2.

Observation of burr formation in chamfered drill

 Chamfer drills with 60° and 40° chamfer angle at the
corner of cutting edge
are designed for burr
formation. In Fig (a), the
burrs formed in drilling
by conventional High
Speed Steel drill and
carbide drill are
measured and
compared with the burr
by chamfer drill. The
burr height from
conventional drills is
larger than that from
chamfered drill. The
chamfered drill with 60° chamfer angle produces larger burr
than in drill with 40°
chamfer angle. Fig.4
shows the drilling
process at the moment
after cutting by main
cutting edge with 140°
point angle. The
chamfered edge starts
cutting and burr is
formed by bending
deformation.
Considering the same
normal stress on the
chamfered edge, it can
be predicted intuitively
that the stiffness of the
remained part which is
represented as hatched
area in Fig.4 is larger in
the case with 40°
chamfer angle than in
the case with 60°
chamfer angle. The
remained part will be
cut if this part keeps
enough stiffness not to
be bended into burrs. This is the key concept for the drills for
burr minimization
Observation of burr formation in round drill

In round drill, the drills with

corner radii R1.5 and R2.5 at drill
cutting edge have been used. It is
observed from Fig.(b) that larger
burrs are formed in drill with R2.5
corner radius which is larger that
R1.5. The uncut volume in R1.5
drill is much smaller than in R2.5
drill as the hatched area in Fig.5
represents the stiffness roughly,
which means that the stiffness of
the remained part in R1.5 drill is
much larger than in R2.5 drill
when drill exits. More bending
deformation in R2.5 drill produces
larger burr. Therefore it can be
insisted that the larger cutting
resistance in drill with larger
corner radius at the moment of
drill exit will induce larger burr.
 Observation of burr formation in step drill
In step drill, the drills with various step angle and step diameter
have been used. 5 drills with different step angles, 130°, 100°,
75°, 60° and 40°, are manufactured with same step diameter,
9mm. In Fig.(c), the burr height in drills with 130° and 100° step
angle is almost same as that in conventional drill as shown in
Fig.(a).When the step angle reduced to °, 60° and 40°, the burr
height reduced to less than 0.1mm. The mechanism of burr
formation in step drill can be explained by Fig.6. The remained
part just before step edge exits hole keeps very thin shape,

which keeps very small stiffness to bending deformation. Then it

can be easily predicted that the thin part will be bent to large
burr. During this process, step edge does not machine the part;
instead it pushes the remained part into burr. From Fig.6, the cap
which produced in first cutting by front cutting edge with 140°
point angle and attached to the burr by bending deformation is a
clear evidence of this mechanism. The cap formed at the first
cutting is pushed out along with burr at the second cutting by
step drill with 100° and 130° step angle because stiffness is not
enough to support thrust force in uncut volume. So, the burst
type burr is largely formed according to the size of difference
between drill diameter and step diameter. Burr can be reduced
when step cutting edge has small step angle less than 75°, in
which case the remained part keeps larger stiffness and small
burr will be produced as a result of less deformation. In Fig. the
effect of step diameter on burr formation can be observed. By
reducing the step size from 1mm to 0.5mm, the burr height
decreases drastically and more stable size according to the
change of feed rate
 For all step drills with 0.5 mm step size and step angle less
than 75°, the burr height is less than 0.1mm. When the step
size reduced with smaller step angle, the uncut volume which
is remained when drill exits becomes very small as shown in
Fig.6, which guarantees small and stable burr formation.
However too small step size will induce burnishing effect
rather than cutting operation in step edges. Therefore it will
be necessary to determine optimal step size for minimization
of burr formation
METHODS OF DEBURRING
Ultrasonic vibration in drilling

Fig shows the experimental device. For the experiment, the

work piece and the ultrasonic horn placed in water tank and
water tank with
abrasive. The water
tank was made of
rectangular pieces of
acryl. Therefore, the
distance between the
work piece and the
ultrasonic horn as well
as the distance
between the bottom of
the water tank and the
work piece could be
adjusted. Table 1 shows
the specifications of the
ultrasonic transducer
amplifier and the
actuator. The resonance
frequency, the
maximum amplitude of
the horn, and the
maximum output power
of the amplifier were 20 kHz, 70 ㎛ , 750W, respectively. The
resonance frequency could be automatically adjusted
depending on the load. The horn was inserted into the water
by 10mm.
 The strength of the ultrasonic vibration differs depending on
the efficiency of actuator and the output power of the
amplifier. The vertical vibration of the tip was transferred
through water or slurry between the horn and the work piece.
The transferred energy creates a cavitations and explosive
power in the water that cause deburring. Therefore, it is
necessary to calculate the strength of the frequency
transferred through water.

The distribution of the frequency strength in three

dimensional medium after the ultrasonic frequency is
transduced is given by the equation.

The distribution of the ultrasonic vibration pressure depends

on the properties of the medium, initial speed, density, and
frequency. However, the pressure is reduced greatly with the
distance. As a result, the pressure at the horn tip is about
20Pa. The term cavitation threshold is used to describe the
minimum conditions necessary to initiate cavitations.

Experimental results are shown in Fig below. Fig shows the

shapes of burrs before and after the experiment. Burr has
been completely removed as shown in Fig. The amount of
deburring is not uniform on circumstance of the hole. This is
because the initial burr shape and size are different.
Therefore, appropriate selection of deburring conditions is
necessary. In addition, surface was damaged during deburring
around the hole in the part. This is because that ultrasonic is
strong enough to deburring.
Figure: Shapes Of Burrs Before And After The Experiment

Before The Experiment

After The Experiment

Integrated drilling and

deburring tools

• A drill bit has been

developed by Kubota et
al. [21] which is capable
of deburring. This tool
operates by utilizing
two cutting edges on
the reverse of the tip to
remove the burr once
the hole has been
drilled

• A number of tool
companies have
developed integrated
drilling and deburring
tools which are capable
of first drilling a hole
and then removing any burr which is formed. These
tools work for holes with a diameter greater than 9.5
mm . An example of one of these tools can be seen in
Fig below.
 • Burroff tools: One-
Pass Hole-Deburring
tool which can remove
both Entrance and exit
burr

Simple and Rugged

One-Piece
Construction Allows
cutting chips to clear
easily

How it works
1. Integral cutting
edges remove the burr
from the front of the hole
as the tool enters the
hole.

2 .The slotted design

allows the tool to
'collapse’ under load as
the tool feeds through
the work piece. The
crowned and polished
top surface of the cutting
edges will not mar the
inside surface of the
hole.

3. The back of the hole is deburred on the return stroke

References

• Sung-lim ko1, Jae-eun Chang1 “Development of drill

geometry for burr minimization in drilling”

• P. Stringer, G. Byrne and E. Ahearne “Tool Design For Burr

Removal In Drilling Operations”.

• Jinsoo Kim “Development of a drilling burr control chart

For stainless steel”.

• H. Z. Choi, s. W. Lee, y. J. Choi, s. L. Ko “Study on

deburring technology using Ultrasonic Cavitations”

• Jihong Choi ,Sangkee Min, David A. Dornfeld “Finite

Element Modeling of Burr Formation in Drilling of a Multi-
Layered Material”

• Choi, Sangkee Min ,David Dornfeld ,Mahboob Alam, T.

Tzong “ Modeling of Inter-Layer Gap Formation in Drilling
of a Multi-Layered MaterialJihong ”