Abstract
Carbon fiber reinforced polymers (CFRPs) are attractive engineering materials in the modern aerospace industry, but possess extremely poor machinability because of their inherent anisotropy and heterogeneity. Although substantial research work has been conducted to understand the drilling behavior of CFRPs, some critical aspects related to the machining temperature development and its correlations with the process parameters still need to be addressed. The present paper aims to characterize the temperature variation and evolution during the CFRP drilling using diamond-coated candlestick and step tools. Progression of the composite drilling temperatures was recorded using an infrared thermography camera, and the hole quality was assessed in terms of surface morphologies and hole diameters. The results indicate that the maximum drilling temperature tends to be reached when the drill edges are fully engaged into the composite workpiece. Then it drops sharply as the tool tends to exit the last fiber plies. Lower cutting speeds and lower feed rates are found to favor the reduction of the maximum composite drilling temperature, thus reducing the risk of the matrix glass transition. The candlestick drill promotes lower magnitudes of drilling temperatures, while the step drill yields better surface morphologies and more consistent hole diameters due to the reaming effects of its secondary step edges.
Highlights
In recent decades, carbon fiber reinforced polymers (CFRPs) have been receiving immense attention in diverse engineering fields due to their superior properties and unique functionality [1,2,3,4]
Most CFRP components are fabricated to near-net shapes by molding processes, mechanical machining has become a compulsory operation in order to achieve desired dimensional accuracy and target quality attributes for final composite products [7,8,9,10]
Machining temperature is a characteristic phenomenon of heat accumulation resulting from the tool–work interaction following the material separation process
Summary
Carbon fiber reinforced polymers (CFRPs) have been receiving immense attention in diverse engineering fields due to their superior properties and unique functionality [1,2,3,4]. It has been reported by previous investigations that interrelated chip separation modes such as bending-induced fractures, shear-induced fractures, fiber buckling, and interfacial debonding occur for the cutting of fibrous composites [11,12,13,14] These unique characteristics result in the poor machinability of CFRP materials, posing tremendous challenges to modern manufacturing sectors. It is rather challenging to drill CFRPs with desired hole quality and target dimensional accuracy This is due to the varying chip removal modes associated with the changeable fiber cutting angle and the high abrasiveness of the reinforcing fibers. Substantial research work has been conducted to understand the drilling behavior of CFRP composites, most of the studies are focused on the analysis of force-related effects, such as drilling thrust forces, delamination damage, hole quality, and tool wear issues. The paper is intended to offer a better understanding of the thermal behavior of CFRP laminates when subjected to the drilling operation
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