EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATIONS OF DRILLING ON CFRP COMPOSITES

The paper outlines the various problems associated with the drilling of CFRP composites. The technique of dimensional analysis is used to investigate the complex correlation between thrust force, cutting speed, feed, hole diameter, point geometry and material thickness during the drilling of holes in CFRP composites, A new non-dimensional number (t/D), thickness of layered composites to drill diameter, is found to influence the thrust force. Four drill point geometries specifically found effective in drilling of FRP were tried and among them the eight facet drill point geometry was found to give the best results.