Comprehensive experimental investigation on drilling multi-material carbon fiber reinforced aluminum laminates

The amalgamation of metallic alloys and fiber-reinforced composites has helped Fiber Metal Laminates (FMLs) like Carbon fiber reinforced aluminum laminates (CARALL) and Glass laminate aluminum reinforced epoxy (GLARE) overcome the limitations of standalone metals and composites. As a result, they have found increasing applications in the aircraft and defense industries. Moreover, the inhomogeneous nature and poor machinability of the materials make hole drilling a challenging task. Therefore, to enhance drilling performance, the paper reports a systematic analysis on the effect of spindle speed and axial feed on key performance measures, including thrust force, machining temperature, surface roughness, hole size, burr size, and chip morphology. Experimental outcomes indicate a significant reduction in the thrust force while utilizing higher spindle speed (4000 rev/min) and lower axial feed (0.1 mm/rev), while the surface finish improved under high feed conditions (0.4 mm/rev). The analysis revealed that machining temperature increased with the employment of higher spindle speed and lower axial feed. Higher spindle speeds and axial feeds are desirable from the perspective of hole accuracy as they help produce holes within H9 diameter tolerance. Burr size was verified to be larger at the hole exit compared to hole entry, with the size of the burr increasing with an increase in spindle speed and axial feed. The results show that the axial feed was the significant variable affecting chip size followed by spindle speed. Higher axial feed (0.4 mm/rev) and spindle speed (4000 rev/min) helped improve the chip breakability, thus helping in better chip evacuation. © 2021 The Authors