Evaluation of Delamination in Drilling GFRP Composites

Composite materials are used in varieties of applications and are mainly used in structural components. Drilling is one of the important operations in composite structure, often a final operation during assembly. Delaminations in drilling of composite structures are a serious problem and lead to rejection and impose heavy loss. In the present investigation, delamianation associated with drilling has been studied using experimental design approach. Two different cutting tools were tried for experimentation. The experiments were conducted by using high-speed steel-made twist drill and 4-flute cutter. Empirical models were developed for predicting delamination factor in drilling GFRP composites. Regression analysis and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used for analysis. The adequacies of the developed models have been verified by calculating correlation coefficient. The effect of cutting parameters on drilling such as spindle speed, feed, and their interactions are studied in detail.