Particularities and research progress of the cutting machinability of wood-plastic composites

Abstract

Wood-plastic composites (WPCs) have attracted widespread attention all over the world. However, due to the combined characteristics of wood and thermoplastic in WPCs, the machinability of WPCs is different from that of pure wood or plastic as well as other non-polymer composites such as metal-matrix composites. In this paper, the author reviews the particularities and research progress of the cutting machinability of WPCs. The research progress mainly includes simulation of the machining process, cutting force, chip shape, processing stability, cutting temperature measurement, efficient cooling technology, machining surface formation mechanism, and tool wear mechanism. The effects of cutting parameters, tool geometry, and workpiece material on cutting force, chip shape, surface machining quality, and tool wear are analyzed, and the main ways of tool wear and failure in the cutting process are summarized. The methods of 3-D cutting temperature measurement and tool wear on-line monitoring and prediction based on neural network are proposed, and future research directions of the high-quality processing of WPCs are anticipated. This paper will provide a reference for researchers engaged in the research of the cutting machinability of WPCs.