The Through Holes And Threaded Holes On AlSiC Products, How Are They Made?
AlSiC composite is as hard as stone, not for normal drilling bit to do the job. There are some tools for machining of AlSiC, like electrode spark, diamond bit, cubic boron nitride bit, etc., some where even the threaded holes could be find on market as long as cost is not a matter.
When we need holes, in the industry, the usual way is to leave the place without ceramic and cast the Al to fill the space, where drilling can go smoothly.
We do not recommend this. From one hand, the stress formed in the interface will affect the strength of the part, where tend to break; on the other hand, we have to make the leaving place as small as possible to decreasing the stress, but this effort often cause the drilling bit touching the ceramic, as result, the part is wasted.
What recommended is that use as much as possible U shaped hole to replace round hole. U shaped holes could be formed through casting process, which increase yield and decrease cost.