Abstract
In aeronautical industry, stringent requirements relate to the quality of drilled holes in carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) composite laminates as low hole quality determines poor assembly tolerance, structural properties reduction, and risk for long-term part performance. Non-destructive quality control techniques were applied to drilled CFRP laminate stacks for aeronautical applications to characterize the material damage induced by drilling in order to assess the hole quality for product acceptability. Experimental metrology procedures, including optical measurements and ultrasonic non-destructive evaluation, were employed to appraise both external and internal induced material damage in holes machined under diverse drilling conditions. The optical inspection procedure, comparable to the visual inspection method regularly utilized in industry, provided delaminated area evaluations that are underestimated in the case of severe drilling conditions by up to 7% for hole exit and up to 5% for hole entry. In the case of less severe drilling conditions, the underestimation was limited to <2.5% for both hole exit and hole entry, which can be considered a practically negligible disparity.
Acknowledgments
The Fraunhofer Joint Laboratory of Excellence on Advanced Production Technology (Fh-J_LEAPT Naples) at the Department of Chemical, Materials and Industrial Production Engineering, University of Naples Federico II, is gratefully acknowledged for its contribution and support to this research activity.