Comprehensive study on machinability of sustainable and conventional fibre reinforced polymer composites

Abstract

The conventional homogeneous materials can no longer effectively satisfy the growing demands on product capabilities and performance, due to the advancement in products design and materials engineering. Therefore, the fibre reinforced composites (FRCs) with better properties and desirable applications emerged. These enhanced qualities of the FRCs have emphasized the need for analysing their machinability for further improvement of performance. Hence, this paper presents a comprehensive investigation on the machinability effects of drilling parameters (feed rate, cutting speed and thrust force), drill diameters and chips formation mainly on delamination and surface roughness of hemp fibre reinforced polymer (19/HFRP) and carbon fibre reinforced polymer (MTM 44-1/CFRP) composite laminates, using high speed steel (HSS) drills under dry machining condition. The results obtained depict that an increase in feed rate and thrust force caused an increase in delamination and surface roughness of both samples, different from cutting speed. Also, increased drill diameter and types of chips formation caused an increase in both delamination and surface roughness of both samples, as the material removal rate (MRR) increased. Evidently, the minimum surface roughness and delamination factor of the two samples for an optimal drilling are associated with feed rates of 0.05–0.10mm/rev and cutting speed of 30m/min.