Experimental Investigations on the Drilling Performance of Carbon Nanotubes Reinforced Glass/Epoxy Multi-scale Composites

Abstract

By adding carbon nanotubes to fiber-reinforced composites, materials engineers can increase the composite's mechanical performance and add additional functional properties. At the same time, this strategy increases the costs of such new-generation composites. Fiber-reinforced laminates are susceptible to damage during machining, which may cause high-cost wastes. Therefore, the machinability of new-generation multi-scale composites with minimum damage becomes a vital processing issue to prevent high-cost waste. This work investigates the effects of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) on the drilling performance and hole quality of glass/epoxy multi-scale composites. For this, CNTs added glass/epoxy composite laminates were drilled with high-speed steel drills under dry conditions. Cutting speed and feed rate were parametrically optimized, considering the deformation factor, delamination, and thrust force. The change in thrust force was recorded in situ, and deformation factors were calculated using image processing techniques. Moreover, the damage assessment of drilled holes was carried out with scanning electron microscope analysis to reveal the drilling-induced micro-scale damages. The addition of CNTs within the epoxy matrix increased thrust forces; however, lower delamination failures around exit sides were observed for multi-scale composites. Taguchi method and analysis of variance were utilized to explore the contributions of drilling parameters and material type on the thrust force and deformation factor. Feed rate and material type were major factors affecting the deformation factor.

Keywords

• Carbon nanotube
• delamination
• multi-scale composite
• machinability

Ethical Statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Thanks

The authors thank Selcuk University Mechanical Engineering Department for their valuable support.

References

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