RODEO

There are two lines of research proposed in this call, both related to the development of orbital drilling. The first is to introduce residual stress when drilling in aluminium, this is seen as the main reason orbital drilling is not more widely used in the aerospace industry. The second is to enabledrilling of smaller holes positioned closer together (a limitation with existing machines/methods). The activities planned for this call will result in the demonstration of residual stresses in aluminium when drilling small (<10mm diameter) holes with standard spacing, suitable material stacks containing aluminium shall be used. This will be performed through investigation, concept study and the design and production of a prototype for a suitable Orbital drilling unit.