Evaluation of delamination damage in carbon epoxy composites under swirling abrasives made by modified internal threaded nozzle

Abstract

Carbon fibre-reinforced polymer composites are finding increased applications in the field of automotive manufacture and aircraft industries due to their appreciative combination of high strength and low weight. The machining of these composites with economically viable and high part qualities requires enhancement in machining strategies. Delamination and surface roughness are the undesirable geometrical defects inherent in abrasive jet machining of layered polymer composites. This investigation focuses on the mechanism of delamination and surface roughness in abrasive jet machining of carbon fibre-reinforced polymer composite. The paper endeavors at the exploration of the viability of imparting swirling motion to SiC abrasive particles by presenting internal threads in the newly designed nozzle. In this research, a novel threaded nozzle was introduced in the abrasive jet machine for making holes on the carbon fiber-reinforced polymer composites with the objective of reducing the delamination and surface roughness. This is a distinctive attempt of its kind and this has brought down the delamination factor considerably and, as a consequence, surface roughness obtained was minimum. Holes were made on carbon fiber-reinforced polymer composite by abrasive jet machining with a modified nozzle with and without an internal thread. The influence of abrasive jet parameters on the delamination factor (bottom and top) and surface roughness (Ra) was investigated. Maximum pressure and minimum SOD cause decrease in delamination and surface roughness in carbon fiber-reinforced polymer composite composites.