An experimental investigation into the orthogonal cutting of unidirectional fibre reinforced plastics

This paper aims to understand the machinability of epoxy composites reinforced by unidirectional carbon fibres when subjected to orthogonal cutting. It was found that the subsurface damage and its mechanisms of a machined component are greatly influenced by fibre orientation. The material's bouncing back is a characteristic phenomenon associated with the cutting of a fibre-reinforced composite. Three distinct deformation zones appear, i.e., chipping, pressing and bouncing when the fibre orientation is <90°. Otherwise, fibre-bending during cutting will become more significant and subsurface damage caused by fibre-matrix debonding will be severer. As a result, surface roughness, subsurface damage and cutting forces all change dramatically with the fibre orientation. It was also found that the curing conditions of making the composites do not have an obvious effect on the machinability, though the mechanical properties of the materials vary. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.