Experimental evaluation of factors influencing drilling of randomly oriented fibre reinforced composite laminates

ABSTRACT

Composites made of Glass Fibres are finding increasing applications in various sectors because of their higher specific strength and better resistance to corrosion. Drilling is the most frequently used machining process used in the composite industry specifically for assembly purposes. The primary focus of this paper is on the factors that determine the quality of the drilled hole in Glass Fibre Reinforced Polymer composite materials. A slab with randomly oriented glass fibres was manufactured. Taguchi’s L₉ orthogonal array with varying diameter, spindle speed, and feed rates was used to design the experiment. Drilling was performed with Solid Carbide drill bit and thrust force was recorded. Post drilling, non-destructive tests for roughness, roundness, and delamination were conducted to characterise the drilled holes. The results showed that at lower feed rates and higher speed better quality of drilled holes were obtained.

KEYWORDS:

• Taguchi method
• non-destructive testing
• solid carbide

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Deep Ghetia

Deep Ghetia, is a student currently in his final year, pursuing Mechanical Engineering at PES University. He was a member of the PACE Team and has represented PES University at the Annual PACE Conference held in Warren, Michigan in the year 2018.

Abhiram V. Shandilya

Abhiram V. Shandilya, is a student currently in his final year, pursuing Mechanical Engineering at PES University. He is a recipient of CNR Rao merit scholarship during his 3^rd year of studies and holds distinction awards for his 2^nd& 3^rd year of studies at PES University.

Amogh Kumar

Amogh Kumar, is a student currently in his final year, pursuing Mechanical Engineering at PES University. He was a member of Team HAYA, the racing car team of PES University, and he has represented PES University at BAJA SAE, India in the year 2019 held at NATRAX Pritampur, Indore. He also represented PES University at Enduro Student India, which was held at Pune in the year 2019.

Mathivanan N Rajesh

Rajesh Mathivanan N, Professor and Chairperson, Advanced Composites Research Center (ACRC), Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, PES University, Bangalore, Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering from Bangalore University and Masters Degree from Visvesvaraya Technological University. He received his Ph.D. degree from the National Institute of Technology (NIT), Tiruchirappalli during 2011 in the area of impact characteristics of composite laminates. He is the faculty advisor of Team HAYA, the racing car team of PES and he is also the faculty integrator of PACE activities. His research interests include product development, impact characterisation, and machining effects on composite laminates.