Drilling of composite structures

Structural parts made of composites have frequently to be drilled in the aircraft industry. However, little is know about the interacting conditions between the drilling tool and the material, which may be multi-type and multi-size. This study proposes a model which links the axial penetration of the drill bit to the conditions of delamination (crack opening mode I) of the last few plies. Several types of tool/material contact conditions were analyzed and were compared with experimental measurements, and with a model taken from the literature. Our study shows a close correlation between experiment and calculation when the thrust force of the drill is modeled by taking into account the geometrical nature of the contact between the tool and a laminate composite material. (C) 2001 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.