MILLING PARAMETERS’ INFLUENCE ON MACHINABILITY IN MILLING OF CFRP COMPOSITES FUNCTIONALIZED WITH G AND GO

Abstract

The use of carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites having low weight and high strength provides the substantial energy savings in space and aerospace industry. The disadvantage of these composites is that the carbon fiber is not firmly bonded to the epoxy resin and the toughness of the produced materials is low. Graphene (G) and Graphene Oxide (GO) nanoparticles are used to functionalize CFRP composites. The CFRP composites functionalized with G and GO improve the strength of these composites by improving the fiber/matrix interface bond. In this study, the effect of type of nanoparticles, feed rate, cutting speed and number of flutes on machinability (cutting force, delamination factor and surface roughness) were experimentally investigated in the milling of CFRP composites, G-CFRP (CFRP functionalized with G) and GO-CFRP (CFRP functionalized with GO) nanocomposites. Cutting force, delamination factor, and surface roughness were found to be strongly impacted by feed rate, cutting speed, number of flutes, and type of nanoparticles. The increase in the number of flutes contributed to decrease of cutting force, delamination factor and surface roughness, while the increase in the feed rate caused to increase of them. By increasing cutting speed, surface roughness reduced, delamination factor and cutting force increased. In addition, compared to the CFRP composite, the cutting forces and surface roughness were higher, and delamination factor was lower in the CFRP composites functionalized with G and GO.