Stacking the material deck for the 787

Combinations such as composites and titanium being used in future aircraft programs can be very challenging when drilling holes during manufacturing and assembly operations.

When it comes to the manufacture of next-generation aircraft, gone are the days of drilling through a soft aluminum structure with high-speed steel drills, after which aluminum rivets would be swaged into those holes with very generous tolerances.

Drilling processes today need to use cutter materials hard enough and tough enough to cut through hard metals such as titanium, yet sharp enough to resist abrasion and maintain size when drilling through composites. There is a constant search for better cutters and drills that can drill a greater number of holes.