MACHINING OF COMPOSITE MATERIALS:

STATE OF THE ART

11. Basic Definitions

Many structural applications require the use of materials combining,

simultaneously, superior strength and stiffness with low weight. Composite
materials are excellent candidates for fulfilling these requirements because of their
high specific properties. In this scenario, one of the most interesting aspects is the
fact that the material itself is also a structure, which consists of two or more
phases on a macroscopic scale, as shown in Figure 1-1[1].

Figure 1-1: Phases of a composite system (after [1])

A structural composite is designed with the following purpose in mind: the

properties and mechanical performance of the composite material are superior to
those of the constituent materials when acting independently.
The matrix is the less stiff and weaker phase and is a continuous medium. The
reinforcement is usually discontinuous, stiffer and stronger. Needless to say, the
properties of a composite structure depend on the properties of the constituents,

57
geometry and phase distribution. The homogeneity of the material system
depends on the more or less distribution of the reinforcement. Composite
materials are, therefore, rather anisotropic in their nature. This fact implies that
the material’s properties, at a certain point, vary with direction or depend on the
orientation of the reference axes (Figure 1-2).

Figure 1-2: Unidirectional ply and principal coordinate axes (after [1])

A laminate is made up of several unidirectional plies stacked together with

various orientations as shown in Figure 1-3 [1]. Since the principal material axes
vary from ply to ply, it is desirable to analyse laminates using a common fixed
system of coordinates (x,y,z). The orientation of each ply is given by the angle
between the reference x-axis and the major principal material axis (fibre
orientation) of the ply, measured in a counter clockwise direction on the x-y
plane.

12. Applications of Composite Materials

Composites have unique characteristics that make them perfect material choices
for several applications, such as: high strength, high stiffness, long fatigue life,
low density and great adaptability to a specific function.

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 Figure 1-3: Multidirectional laminate and reference coordinate system (after [1])

The aerospace and aeronautical industries have been major users of composite
technology in the last decades. From small parts to fairly large structures, weight
savings while preserving high material properties has always been an issue in
commercial aircrafts, such as the Boeing 777 shown in Figure 1-4 [2].

Figure 1-4: Boeing 777 commercial airliner (after [2])

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Another example is a speedbrake structure of a military aircraft, the Vought A7,
composed of several composite parts, Figure 1-5 [3].

Figure 1-5: A7 speedbrake structure (after [3])

The examples of composite applications shown above are only a small part of
many hundreds of other similar applications, not only on the aerospace and
aeronautical industries.

13. Trends in major civil aircraft manufacturers

After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, a negative financial fallout
occurred with many air carriers. As of 2005, a slow recover took place and the
two main commercial aircraft carriers and rivals, The Boeing Co. (Seattle,
Washington) and Airbus Industrie (Toulouse, France) developed significantly
different views regarding the future of commercial air travel.
Airbus reasoned that the number of non-stop flights between large number of
paired cities would decrease, although populations continue to concentrate in and
around major metropolitan areas. Based on these predictions, Airbus developed

60
the super-jumbo A380, capable of carrying 555 to as many as 890 passengers to
fly at lower per-passenger costs.
Boeing, on the other hand, expected the population distribution to contribute to
an increase in new non-stop flights and growth in the number of trips between
paired cities. According to Boeing’s calculations, large aircraft like the B747 and
the A380, will be only 4% (790) of the total commercial jet fleet, while almost
4300 are expected to be regional jets over the next 20 years. Consequently,
Boeing came up with the 7E7 (“E” means efficiency) and then renamed 787
“Dreamliner”. Being this a mid-sized jet, belonging to the same category as the
B767, and taking into account that this category makes up the greatest number
of in-service commercial jets, airlines began to look more at fuel efficiency,
especially with rising fuel prices.
In the quest for more efficient aircraft, both aircraft manufacturers turned their
attention once again to composite materials.

14. General Materials Information on the B787

The B787 “Dreamliner” will be the first full size commercial aircraft with
composite wings and fuselage (Figure...).

61
 Figure 28-B787 Dreamliner fusellage section

Composites on the B787 (Figure...) will account for 50% of the aircraft’s
structural weight. Aluminium will comprise only 12% of the mentioned weight.
Titanium will make up a greater percentage than aluminium, namely 15%. Steel
will comprise 10% and other metals 5%.

62
The material to be used on the B787’s primary structures, such as the wings and
fuselage, is Toray’s 3900-2 prepreg material (comprised of intermediate-modules
T800 carbon fibre and a toughened 350F-cure epoxy), used in both unidirectional
tape and woven formats.

15. Special Materials for the Aerospace and Aeronautical

Industries

Aluminium-Lithium Alloys

Among the new aircraft materials, aluminium lithium alloys are particularly
attractive because of their weight-saving potential. When aluminium is alloyed
with lithium, for every 1% addition of lithium, there is approximately a 3%
reduction in alloy density and an increase in stiffness of about 6%. The
commercial alloys typifIed by 2090, 2091, 8090, and 8091 contain from 1.9-2.7%
lithium. Therefore, they offer up to about 10% density advantage over the 2000
and 7000 series alloys. They also have correspondingly higher stiffness and offer a
25% advantage in specifIc stiffness. With alurninum-lithium alloys, weight saving
in aircraft structures of up to 10% is possible in strength-critical structures and of
up to 18% in stiffness critical structures. In addition to being light and stiff, the
alloys are strong, damage tolerant, and corrosion resistant. However, their
properties are strongly sensitive to processing conditions and, therefore, product
quallty is more diff1cult to control than for conventional alloys. Other short
comings include high anisotropy of unrecrystallized products caused by the strong
crystallographic textures developed during processing, low short-transverse
properties of thick plates, lack of thermal stability of some products, limited
experience with manufacturing requirements, and limited amounts of design data.
Aluminium-lithium alloys were introduced more than 30 years ago by Alcoa as
alloy 2020 for use on the RA-5C Vigilante military aircraft. Outside of the
U.S.s.R., where several alloys were developed in the 1960s, the technology

63
appeared to lay dormant until the mid-1980s, when Alcoa, Alcan, and Pechiney
introduced alloys 2090, 8091, and 2091, respectively, and Alcan and Pechiney
joint1y introduced alloy 8090. During the late 1980s, a mechanically alloyed
powder metallurgy product known as AI-905XL (formerly IN 9052) was also
introduced by IncoMAP and, more recently, a cast Al-Li-Cu alloy known as
Weldallte 049 (now registered as alloy 2095) was developed by Martin Marietta
Laboratories. The latter material has excellent weldability, superior to that of the
2000series alloys, including alloy 2219, and is a strong contender as fuel tank
material for NASA's space shuttle because of the material's excellent cryogenic
properties. The 2000 and 8000 series AI-Li alloys are available commercially in a
variety of forms and tempers which can be selected to meet the specific design
requirements of either high strength (e.g., 209O-T8X, 8091-1'8), medium strength
combined with corrosion resistance and damage tolerance (e.g., 8090T8XXX,
2091-T8X), or high damage tolerance (e.g., 2091-T8XXX).
Applications of AI-Li alloys are not widespread to date. Alloy 8090-T83 is used in
limited quantities by Airbus 1ndustries, for the D-nose skins of the leading edge
of the A330/340 aircraft wing. Alloys 2090-1'83 and 2090T62 are used by
McDonnell Douglas for some flooring sections fi the C-17 air lifter craft. The new
Boeing 777 aircraft makes only limited use of AI-Li alloys. In contrast, Westland-
Agusta, U.K./Italy is unique in making extensive use of 8090 forgings and sheets
and 2090 and 2091 sheets for the EHI0l helicopter. The alloys are also being
tested for a variety of new applications, inc1uding lower wing skins and fuselage
applications (panels and doors).

Aluminium Bases Metal Matrix Composites

The 2000 series alloys offer strength and damage tolerance, the 7000 series alloys
offer higher strength potential' and the 6000 series alloys are conducive to good
corrosion resistance and improved machinability, whereas the Al-Fe-X (8XXX)
alloys provide opportunities for high-temperature performance

64
Meanwhile, a matrix based on AI-Li provides a unique combination of high stiff-
ness and low density. Composite properties are also strongly influenced by the
type of reinforcing medium. Fibbers provide the highest stiffness, strength, and
toughness combination. Particulate reinforcement is often used for wear-
resistance applications and offers high stiffness but only low strength and low
toughness, whereas whisker reinforcement offers high stiffness, medium strength,
and low toughness. Several reinforcing mediums have been used for AMCs,
including alumina, carbon, and Sialon fibbers, but SiC is the most common
reinforcing medium.

Hybrid Composites

Hybrid composites are FRP-metal sandwich laminates consisting of alternating

layers of high-strength aluminium alloys and fibre reinforced epoxy adhesive.
This hybrid structural material, illustrated schematically in Fig. 9, was developed
in the late 1970s at Delft University in the Netherlands and Fokker Aircraft and
was later commerciallzed in collaboration with Alcoa and Akzo. Two categories
of hybrid composites are available commercially today, the ARALLi!!) and
GLARE@ laminates, which differ in the type of f:1ber used for reinforcement.
ARALL laminates (for aramid reinforced aluminium laminate) use 50% fibre
volume of adhesive prepreg of high-modulus aramid fibres. GLARE laminates (for
glass reinforcement) are unidirectional or bi-axial reinforced with 60% fibre
volume of high strength glass fibres. GLARE laminates are a more recent
development, complementing the original ARALL product through provision of
higher compression strength.
Both ARALL and GLARE laminates come in different configurations ranging
from two layers of aluminium with one FRP layer in between, to f:1ve layers of
aluminium with four interspaced FRP layers. In GLARE laminates, the glass
fibres can be layed up in a cross-ply configuration. Also, both ARALL and
GLARE laminates can be fabricated with different aluminium alloys. This allows
laminate properties to be c10sely tailored to component design requirements. The

65
laminates are produced by curing in a heated platen press. After curing, ARALL
laminates can be stretched to eliminate undesirable residual stresses.

FRP-metal laminates have the ability to impede and self-arrest fatigue crack
growth, which makes the materials highly damage tolerant. As cracks develop in
the aluminium face sheets, fibre bridging across a propagating crack causes the
unbroken fibres to carry increasing portions of the load, which may decrease the
stress intensity at the crack tip to the point where the cracks cease to grow. This
makes the material particularly well suited to applications requiring good fatigue
resistance. GLARE laminates are particularly well suited for f1rewall applications
because of a high bum-through resistance.

Figure 29-A380 Materials overview

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16. Machining of Composite Materials

Although composite parts may have the advantage to replace many mechanical
fastened pieces, and so a significant reduction in the number of fastener holes
leading to cost reduction, the need to unify components by mechanical fastening
is still considerable.
New problems may arise during the machining of composite materials when
compared to the machining of traditional materials like metals, in the basic
operations of drilling or milling. Fibre reinforcement in composites is usually very
abrasive which leads to rapid tool wear and deterioration of the machined
surfaces. Delaminations can be introduced into the workpiece and several types of
damages can be observed on the workpiece surfaces. Parts must be very well
supported to resist force applied by the tools during machining, which requires
expensive fixtures to be built.

Drilling composite Materials

Generally, the thrust and torque applied on a drill bit depend on speed, feed rate,
tool geometry and tool wear. Experimental testing showed that as drilling
progresses, thrust increases steadily until a nearly constant value corresponding
to steady drilling through the thickness of the laminate is reached, after which it
drops sharply when the tool exits the laminate on the opposite side (FigureÞ).

67
A sharp decrease in normal force as the bit enters the workpiece is always
associated with the introduction of delamination by mechanical action of the tool
peeling up the top layer of the laminate. Delamination of the top layer can also
be produced by high thermal stresses generated by drilling, but in that case no
discontinuities are observed in the normal force history. Delaminations near the
exit side are introduced because the tool may act like a punch, separating the
thin uncut layer from the rest of the laminate. This phenomenon is associated
with an almost instantaneous drop in normal force from its steady-state value to
zero. Delaminations can be greatly reduced or eliminated by reducing feed rates
near the exit and using backup plates to provide support and prevent
deformations leading to exit side delaminations.
The oscillations observed during the steady portion of the drilling process are
related to the different ply orientations of the laminate. With unidirectional (UD)
composites, the amplitude of such oscillations is rather large. For cross-ply or
quasi-isotropic laminates, the amplitude is much lower. Maximum normal force
and maximum torque both increase significantly with the number of holes drilled

68
due to chipping and wear of the cutting surfaces. FigureÞ shows the increase in
the maximum axial force with number of holes for an 8 mm split point carbide
bit drilling 4.5 mm thick graphite-epoxy laminates with a speed of 1900 RPM
and a feed rate of 0.015 mm/min.

17. General Tool Design

Because glass and carbon fibre s are very abrasive, drill bits made out of high-
speed steel (HSS) fail after drilling just a few holes in composite materials.
Tungsten carbide tools possess adequate life, particularly when sub micrometer
carbide is used, because its resistance to rupture is 50% higher and it is harder
than the standard C2 grade carbide. A much higher number of holes can be
drilled with tungsten carbide tools coated with polycrystalline diamond (PCD).
PCD-coated tools can be easily chipped, particularly when used with portable
drills, and cannot be sharpened. Another approach involves grinding the point
angle into carbide tipped blank. PCD veins are then sintered in that groove, and
the drill point geometry and flutes are ground in. These diamond veined drills
can be sharpened. For graphite-epoxy or glass-epoxy, best results are obtained
with a solid tungsten carbide dagger drill or with PCD-coated twist drills.
Another factor to consider in the selection of a drill bit is cost; PCD tipped drills
are typically 20 times as expensive as solid carbide drills [28]. It must be
determined if the longer tool life and improved hole quality balance the higher
cost.
MilIer tested nine types of 4.85 mm diameter drill bits in 6.35 mm thick graphite-
epoxy at 20,000 rpm and feed rates 0.025 mm/rev, using portable self-feed air
motors. Among those tested were the carbide tipped chisel point bit, the eight-
facet bit, the jodrill, and the four-flute tapered straight flute bit shown in Fig. 6.
A solid carbide drill with an eight-facet split point and a jodrill with 30û helix
geometry produced the maximum numbers of holes with a tolerance of +0.051
and -0.025 mm. The success of the eight-facet split point bit is attributed to the

69
long taper angle at the shoulder, which tends to minimize fibre breakout. The
same effect is obtained in the jodrill using a step at the drill shoulder. Solid
carbide tools must be handled with care to prevent breakage and chipping of the
cutting edges. A micro grain carbide grade is recommended to provide as much
toughness as possible.
The helix angle is not so important for machining graphite-epoxy composites
because the chips are in powder form and are continually suctioned off. Positive
rake angles (Fig. 7) are needed to generate the least amount of heat during
cutting. However, the more positive the rake angle, the more fragile the cutting
edge becomes. A small chisel angle is the second element of good tool geometry
and serves to improve the penetration rate.

Figure 30-Examples of drill bits used with composite materials (a) carbide tipped chisel point; (b)
eight facet; (c) jodrill; (d) four flute, tapered, straight flute

70
Composites are often bonded to aluminium or titanium parts, and the hole to be
drilled must go through both the composite and the metal. Drilling aluminium
with a tool designed for drilling graphite-epoxy calls for a tool of a very different
shape in order to remove the long stringy aluminium chips. Drilling titanium
with the same tool as is used for composites is difficult because tool wear makes
drilling through titanium difficult. It is recommended to drill the composite first,
remove the tool, and drill the titanium part with a different tool. Then, because
the titanium chips damage the surface of the hole in the composite section as
they are removed, the hole must be reamed. This procedure, involving three tools
and three operations, is expensive. Ways are sought to provide combination tools
or to design drills that automatically change operating conditions as the drill bit
enters different materials.
The machining of materials containing aramid fibre s requires special tooling.
Because of their low compressive strength, aramid fibre s have a tendency to
recede within the matrix instead of being sheared off. Frayed fibre s will protrude
from the hole surface to create what is commonly known as fuzz. To drill this
type of material, fibre s should be pulled from the periphery of the hole toward
the center and then sheared. This can be accomplished by tools with protruding
peripheral cutting edges and positive axial and radial rake angles. Rake angles
and relief angles (Fig. 7) in the range of 29-35û and 12-30û, respectively, were
found adequate. Self-centering drills were designed so that around the
circumference, serrations are ultimately oriented upward and downward (Fig.
8a), introducing a cutting action in both directions to cut unsheared aramid
fibres. A serrated spade drill (Fig. 8) for drill press operation and a serrated
countersink are also recommended. For these three types of drill bits, serrations
are designed to trap the uncut fibres and shear them.
Drilling of composite materials with boron fibre reinforcement requires the use of
diamond impregnated tooling. The major problem encountered with boron-epoxy
laminates comes from the heat generated. Material thinner than 3.17 mm can be
drilled without fluid cooling. Above that thickness, coolant must be supplied
through the tool at pressures up to 75 psi to prevent damage to the workpiece.

71
When a layer of boron-aluminium is bonded to one piece of titanium, a two-tool
approach is preferable. A multilayered section would require too many tool
changes and must be drilled with one tool, using a reduced feed rate when
cutting through a titanium layer. Tool wear was shown to depend on prior heat
treatment when drilling boron-aluminium composites. Although ultrasonically
vibrating the tool was not effective when drilling boron-epoxy, it reduced friction,
tool wear, and the tendency of the aluminium to accumulate on the tool when
drilling boron-aluminium. Drilling with an ultrasonically vibrated tool was also
successful in producing holes in boron-aluminium /titanium laminates.

Graphite-Bismaleimide Titanium

To minimize the positional errors and to obtain tight tolerances during

manufacturing, composite panels and structural parts are typically drilled
together in a stack and assembled. However, drilling of dissimilar material like
graphite composite and Ti metal in a stack is a challenging task to
manufacturing engineers because of the different machining properties for each
material.
The main problems encountered with regard to the quality characteristics of
drilled composite Ti stacks inc1ude severe tool wear, heat induced damage, hole
size, roundness, shape, surface texture, and presence of titanium burrs.

Drilling Graphite-Bismaleimide Titanium Stacks

The fibre reinforced plastic (FRP) material used in this study was a multi-
directional Gr/Bi composite consisting of IM-6 graphite fibre s and a 3501-6 ther-
moset matrix with a ply orientation of [45/90/-45/0/-45/ 0/45/0/-45/90/-
45/0/45/0/45/90/-45/90/90], which was acquired from The Boeing Company.
The Gr/Bi thickness was 7.62 mm with a ply thickness of 0.2 mm. Ti 6AI-4V
alloy sheets with 3.1 mm thickness were used in the experiment. It was decided
that the most efficient stacking sequence would be to rest the Gr/Bi on top of
the Ti alloy. This approach in stacking sequence would result in the least amount
of exit delamination. Drilling experiments were performed with water soluble syn-

72
thetic coolant on a commercial vertical mill, which was retrofitted with a CNC
control and drive unit. Two types of drill materials with a standard drill
geometry were selected for this investigation based on their availability and
widespread use in industry: high-speed cobalt (HSS-Co) and carbide.

Figure 31-Hole quallty features of Gr/Bi-Ti stacks

Tool Wear

Tool wear was measured at the flank face on the drills. Flank wear, occurring at
the outer cutting edges of the drill, was more notable than wear on chisel edge
and cutting lips. Tool wear was measured by viewing the drills underneath a
microscope.
Drill wear was measured in various feeds and speeds to characterize the wear characteristics of each drill bits

in drilling GriBi-Ti stacks. Tool wear on the HSS-Co drills occurred rapidly when
drilling the Gr/Bi- Ti stacks. Flank and crater wear was observed on HSS-Co
drills. Some of the more extreme tool wear was observed on the helical cutting
edges of the HSS-Co drills as well. Minor flank wear was beginning to form on
the carbide drills. The least amount of wear occurred at the tip of the point angle
for all the drills tested.

73
The largest number of holes that failed were drilled using carbide drills. In the
case of HSS-Co drills, the time to failure of tool was determined either by the
CNC machine stopping because a maximum thrust limit(~3700 N) was reached,
or visually by noticing worn cutting edges and smoke. Due to difficulties of
measuring the wear length of failed HSS-Co drill bits, the wear length was
designated I mm. Fig. 8 present the tool wear at various feed and speed. For the
HSS-Co drills, slow feed was detrimental to tool life because of the long tool
engagement periods. This seems be contrary to normal cutting conditions of the
HSS-Co tools. However, Ti alloys heat up rapidly during drilling and do not dissi-
pate the heat quickly because of the low thermal conductivity. Increasing the
spindle speed created more heat generation due to friction in the cutting zone of
the Ti plate, decreasing the tool life. Therefore, the longest HSS-Co tool life was
achieved at the combination of high feed and low speed (0.25 mm/rev and 660
rpm). Heat generation was the primary concern when drilling Gr/Bi- Ti stacks
because high temperatures in the drilling region were detrimental to tool life and
allowed for increased matrix degradation. As a result, fewer holes were produced
when high spindle speeds and slow feeds were used for HSS-Co drilling.

Figure 32-Effect of speed and feed on the hole production for HSS and HSS-Co drills: (a) constant
speed; (b) constant feed

74
Figure 33-(a) Drill flank wear versus hole number with different tool materials. The effect of (b) feed
and (c) speed on the carbide drill flank wear at the 20th hole

Hole Quality Parameters

Hole quality in Ti alloys and composite material were evaluated in terms of ma-
terial integrity, hole diameter and roundness, Ti burrs, and surface finish on the
first hole drilled at each feed and speed. Fig. 1 presents hole quality features of
Gr/ Bi- Ti stacks. The first holes made by fresh drills at each drilling condition
were used to verify the effect of feed, speed, and tool materials on hole quality
parameters. The hole diameter error can be readily calculated as the difference
between the actual hole diameter and the specified drill diameter. Hole geometry
and diameter were measured with a coordinate measuring machine (CMM)
mounted with a 1 mm Renishaw ruby tipped, spherical probe, and a Control
Console, which displays all system functions and measurements. At least 40
points were measured to obtain the least square diameter and roundness at a

75
given depth in the hole. For each hole, both diameter and roundness of a hole
were measured at every 10-15 Ilm on the entire stack hole. Optical microscopy
was utilized to observe the drilled hole quality. Surface formation and topography
were characterized in terms of surface describing parameters from the surface
profile measurements. The surface roughness across the depth of the hole walls
were me asured on a Surfanalyzer System 4000. Surface roughness measurements
were performed on both Gr/Bi and Ti alloy materials. Profilometer operation
parameters consisted of a 0.80 mm cut-off length and 0.25 mm/s drive speed. The
surface roughness parameters such as, average surface roughness (Ra), average root
mean square (Rq), average peak-to-peak height (Ry), and average roughness
value of lO-point height (Rz), were measured and recorded. ln order to measure
the burr height, an electronic digital height gage was used. Unlike HSS-Co drills,
carbide drills showed the least amount of tool wear because carbide has a greater
hot hardness. The tool-life criterion is defined as the carbide drill flank wear
length exceeding a value of 400 flm. It is obvious that the carbide drill wear
increases exponentially with increase in the feed and spindle speed. The thrust
forces produced by a carbide drill did not increase drastically with increase in
number of holes, as HSS-Co did. This is due to the greater hot hardness of
carbide. Consequently, high speeds and high feeds had negative effect on the too
1 life of carbide drilIs, because heat generation was not a major factor on the
carbide tool wear.

Selection of Drilling Conditions

To select the feed and speed range, preliminary experiments were performed at
0.03-0.25 mm/rev and 325-2750 rpm, respectively. If a drill made at least one
hole on the stack at a given condition, the condition was passed (P). If not, the
condition was failed (F). Fig. 3 present the passed or failed conditions for both
drills. At the combination of low speed and high feed, both drills failed to make a
single hole. HSS-Co drills were not successful at making holes over 2720 rpm.
Selected feeds were 0.08, 0.13, 0.20, and 0.25 mm/rev.

76
Hole Diameter and Cylindricity

The average hole diameter, which defines the size tolerance, was measured by the
CMM at a given depth of an entire hole. A roundness (circularity) criterion
specifies a tolerance zone bounded by two concentric circles within which each
circular element of the surface must lie and applies independently at any plane.
Cylindricity is a surface of revolution in which all points of the surface are
equidistant from a common axis.
Fig. 4(a) and (b) show average values of the typical stack hole diameter error,
which is a subtraction of the actual diameter from the drill diameter, by both
drills with various feeds and speeds. Generally, HSS-Co drills have a tendency to
produce undersize holes, whereas holes made by carbide drills tend to be larger
than the drill size. The amount of oversize increases with increasing feed and
speed in carbide drilling. This phenomenon could be due to vibrations induced at
higher feed and speed. Fig. 5 show the typical hole profiles measured at the
machined stack hole for both drills. Generally, variation in the profiles tends to
be higher for the Gr/Bi holes than Ti holes. So, the hole roundness of Gr/Bi- Ti
stacks is dependent on the Gr/Bi plate. li can be seen that the variation of the
profiles of holes by HSS-Co drills is higher than carbide drills. Speed has an effect
on cylindricity of drilled holes in that higher speeds produce larger cylindricity.
Feed is negatively proportional to cylindricity, because roundness deviations of
Gr/Bi holes were reduced on higher feed for both drills.

Workpiece Damage

HSS and HSS-Co drills produced workpiece damage inc1uding fibre exposure on
the Gr/Bi- Ti interfaces and Ti burrs. By placing the Gr/Bi on top of the Ti
alloy, the exit plies of the composite were supported. Thus, as the drill exited the
composite there is very little delamination of bottom plies.
Two types of material damage were present at the exit surface of the Gr/Bi. The
first damage was the discoloration ring located around the hole and the second
can be referred as a damage ring, which was induced by both heat and metal
chips. The discoloration zone may be due to heat generated during drilling,

77
however, there was no fibre breaking and fibre s were not exposed at the
discoloration ring. Fig. 8 shows micrographs showing damage at the interface
surface of Gr/Bi specimens. The Gr/Bi damage was noticed when the HSS and
HSS-Co drills were used, but minimal damage took place when carbide drills were
used, at least for the amount of holes produced using carbide drills. During
drilling, damage rings, located iu exit plies of the composite at the Gr/Bi and Ti
alloy interface, were formed. The damage radial distance was measured, where 0
is the diameter of the damage obtained by subjective averaging and, D is the hole
diameter (Fig. 8(a)). The radial distance of both the discoloration rings and
damage rings increased as the number of holes drilled increased when both HSS
and HSS-Co drills were used. In Fig. 8(b), the damage revealed that the fibre s
were exposed as a result of the matrix overheating, causing a defect in the
material. Also, as shown in Fig. 8(c), delamination induced by both heat and the
metal chips can be observed at the exit ply. Therefore, the damage was minimal
when the carbide drills were used because carbide had a higher hot hardness com-
pared to HSS and HSS-Co drills, thus the cutting edges remained sharper,
shearing away material more efficiently and generating less heat.

78
 Figure 34-(a) Gr/Bi damage region at the Gr/Bi-Ti interface at 0.08 mm/rev and 1750 RPM (The
Gr/Bi damage radial distance, t, is specified as t=(fi-D)/2) (b) The top view of Gr/Bi damage region
produced by HSS-Co drill at 0.08 mm/rev, 2720 RPM (microscope) , (c) SEM

Figs. 9(a) and (b) show that the damage radial distance decreases as the feed
increases when HSS drills are used. In case of HSS-Co drills, the trend with
various feeds seems to be unclear, but the damage radial distance is large at slow
feed, under 400 rpm, and decreases at higher feed. This damage was caused by
localized heat generation in the Ti alloy around the cutting zone. The lower feeds
resulted in longer tool engagement times between the tool and the workpiece.
Longer machining times led to more heat generation in the Ti alloy. The radial
distance increased with increasing speed for both HSS and HSS-Co drills. Damage
by carbide tools was negligibly small, thus it was not measured.

79
 Figure 35-Damage radial distance at the Gr/Bi interface

Burrs

Ti alloy burrs were found to depend upon spindle speed and feed. The exit burrs
of Ti were induced on hole quality parameters in Gr/Bi-Ti stacks. Generally,
carbide drills produced smaller exit burr heights, which are under 1 mm in all
conditions. li is dear that speed has a major influence on the exit burr heights.
The exit burr heights increased as spindle speed increased and slower feeds
produced higher exit burr height. This could be due to the low thermal
conductivity of Ti, which heat up rapidly during drilling but does not dissipate
the heat quickly. Heat generation was the primary concern when drilling Gr/Bi-
Ti stacks, because high temperatures in the drilling region negatively effect too!
life and exit burrs. The formation of a Ti burr was affected by several factors
including thrust force and friction heat generated when drilling at high speed,
long tool engagement time, and slow feeds. Prior study proved that thrust force
and feed rate are major factors in exit burr heights. At the same thrust force,
lower feed rate produces higher burr height. Burr height is proportional to thrust
force at the constant feed rate. As the drill pierced through the bottom surface of
the Ti alloy material, the bottom surface layer of the Ti alloy became quite hot
and the ductility increased, allowing the material to flow easier. Also, the last

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thin layer of Ti alloy did not get sheared properly because the cutting edges of
the drill became worn out. When the worn drill exited the Ti alloy, the cutting
edges pushed the Ti alloy outward, creating the burr around the perimeter of the
hole. Rapid tool wear in HSS-Co drills had induced higher thrust force and
frictional heat which in turn produced the largest burr heights at high speed and
low feed. However, carbide drills experienced the 1east wear and resu1ted in the smallest burr heights.

Figure 36-Entrance/exit burr height at the first hole of Ti alloys with various feed and speed: (a)
constant speed, 660 RPM; (b) constant feed (0.08 mm/rev); (c) constant speed (660 RPM); (d)
constant feed (0.08 mm/rev)

Surface Quallty

The surface roughness parameters in Gr/Bi are much higher than those in Ti.
The average surface roughness, Ra, in Gr/Bi ranged from1.23 to 5.78 r.tm, while
those in Ti ranged from 0.48 to 2 r.tm. Also, surface roughness of Ti is very close
in both HSS-Co and carbide drilled holes. Surface roughness parameters of Gr/Bi

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are critical in drilling of Gr/Bi-Ti stacks, so Rv (maximum peak-to valley) of
Gr/Bi was chosen to quantify the surface characteristics of drilled holes. Fig. 6
show the effect of feed, speed, and drill material on the surface roughness
parameter, Ry. Overall, HSS-Co drilled holes have higher surface roughness
parameters values than carbide drilled ones, which do not exceed 15 ~lm. Drill
speed is a major factor in Ry of Gr/Bi in HSS-Co drilling, while feed effects
mostly in carbide drilling. It was observed that HSS-Co drill wear was drastically
increased over 1115 rpm, and much heat was generated cutting. In the case of
holes made by carbide drills, drill wear and heat generation were not severe
enough for speed to affect the surface roughness parameter. For both drills,
rougher surface were produced at high feed. In fibre reinforced composites, deeper
fibre pullouts occur while the depth of cut is getting larger.
Fig. 7 show the optical micrographs of a typical surface of the sectioned holes
made by HSS-Co and carbide drills. The surface damage generated in drilling
Gr/Bi is dependent on the relative angle between fibre orientation and the
direction of cutting motion. Fibre pullout, which caused a pitting phenomenon,
general Jy occurred with the fibre at a negative angle to the cutting direction. In
case of positive angle between fibre orientation and cutting direction, the surface
produced tends to be smooth and usually covered with matrix smearing and
crushed fibres. As the depth of pits is dependent on the manner in which the
cutting load was applied and the relative angle between fibre orientation and
cutting direction, it is expected that the holes made by HSS-Co drills have deeper
fibre pullout than those by carbide drills. Torque by HSS-Co drills is at least 40%
higher than that by carbide drills. It can be seen that deeper fibre pullout regions
occurred in -45û plies and 90û plies on a hole made by HSS-CO drill. The
surface made by carbide drills has swallow fibre pullouts only at -45û plies.

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Figure 37-Surface roughness profiles

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