Machining of fiber-reinforced thermoplastics: Influence of feed and drill size on thrust force and torque during drilling

Polymer-based composite materials possess superior properties such as high strength-to-weight ratio, stiffness-to-weight ratio, and good corrosive resistance and therefore, are preferred for high-performance applications such as in the aerospace, defense, and sport goods industries. Drilling is one of the indispensable methods for building products with composite panels. Drilling tests have been conducted on glass fiber-reinforced plastic composite GFRP laminates using an instrumented CNC milling center. Machining parameters such as drill size, feed rate, and cutting speed have been observed for damage-free drilling of GFRP materials. A series of drilling experiments have been conducted on glass fiber-reinforced polyester laminates and the responses experienced such as thrust force and torque as functions of feed rate and drill size have been characterized to develop a semiempirical relationship which correlated well with an established model in terms of cutting parameters. Results indicated that experimental values correlated better with the model of thrust for 6 mm drill size than for 10 mm and torque correlated better for lower feed ranges than for the higher feed ranges.