Investigation of thrust, torque and delamination on drilling of Glass fabric/Polypropylene matrix composite

Abstract

Polymer composites are rapidly emerging as important engineering materials. They have a phenomenal and a wide range of applications in the field of Aerospace and Automotive Engineering. One of the major techniques in composite manufacturing is drilling. In the present study, Glass fabric/ Polypropylene matrix composite is drilled in Arix VMC 100 CNC Drilling machine with High Speed Steel (HSS) drill bit of 8 mm diameter at three different Cutting speeds and three different feed rates. Thrust, torque studies were done to see the effect on delamination factor and the experiment was done based on the Design of Experiments (DOE). Results provide some useful information. Tool wear study was done for the worst drilling parameter. Drilling with HSS drill bit at a speed of 2500rpm and at a feed of 20mm/min gave delamination factor closer to unity with minimal thrust and torque.