Drilling of woven glass fiber-reinforced plastic—an experimental and finite element study

Abstract

Drilling in woven fiber-reinforced plastics is a well-known practice in modern-day manufacturing. The high fracture toughness of woven fiber-based composites over unidirectional counterparts is increasing demand in aviation and electronics industries. Hence, failure of these materials at harsh environments is a matter of concern. Very few numerical studies on drilling of these composites have been carried out; hence, the present scope may be considered as a trial de novo. Delamination was studied in the present work at different feed–speed combinations. Drilling responses were estimated using finite element as a numerical simulation tool. An equivalent elastic macromechanical model was assumed for the woven composite workpiece. A 3D drill bit was modeled using commercial CAD package Pro-Engineer and Ansys Autodyn was used as the solver environment. The simulation and validation experiments were carried out at planned feed–speed combinations. The effect of process parameters on exit and entry delamination is also documented. The thrust determined by finite element techniques showed good prediction with the experimental results.