Drilling Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastics with Diamond Coated Carbide Cutting Tools

Carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP) have desirable properties such as high strength-to-weight ratio, high stiffness-to weight ratio, high corrosion resistance, and low thermal expansion. Due to these properties, they are suitable for use as structural components in aerospace applications. Although components made from CFRP are produced near net shape, additional machining operations such as drilling, milling, and trimming are required to satisfy fmal design requirements. Machining CFRP laminates is quite difficult due to the extremely abrasive nature of the carbon fibers and low thermal conductivity of CFRP. For this reason advanced cutting tools such as diamond coated carbides and polycrystalline diamond cutting tools are usually employed during machining of CFRP laminates. It is a challenge for manufacturers to machine CFRP materials without causing any damage to the work part (e.g. delamination) while considering the economics of the process. The objective of this study is to investigate through an experimental approach the wear behavior of diamond coated carbide cutting tools during drilling of woven fabric type CFRP laminates as a function of operational parameters.