Effects of cutting edge radius and fiber cutting angle on the cutting-induced surface damage in machining of unidirectional CFRP composite laminates

Carbon fiber reinforced polymer composite laminates are anisotropic, inhomogeneous, and mostly prepared in laminate form before undergoing the finishing operations. The edge trimming process is considered as one of the most common finishing operations in the industrial applications. However, the laminate surface is especially prone to damage in the chip formation process, and the most common damage mode is burrs. Burrs may increase cost and production time because of additional machining; they can also damage the surface integrity. Many studies have been done to address this problem, and techniques for reducing burr size in material removal process has been the focus of the research. Nonetheless, the combined effects of the cutting edge radius and the fiber cutting angle on the burr formation have seldom been conducted, which in turn restricts to find out the mechanism of burr formation. The purpose of the present paper is to study the particular mechanism that leads to burr formation in edge trimming of CFRP laminates and investigate the effects of fiber cutting angle and cutting edge radius on burr formation. The results indicate that the burrs are prone to form in the fiber cutting angle range of 0° < χ < 90° when a large cutting edge radius of the tool is used for both milling and drilling of CFRP composites.