High Speed Routing of Woven Carbon Fiber Reinforced Epoxy Laminates

Little is known about the high speed routing of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymers (CFRP). Most of the work in the literature has focused on the drilling of CFRP. In this paper, an extensive experimental study has been conducted to better understand the dynamic, tribological, and thermal characteristics of high speed milling of CFRPs, in the range of 10,000 to 40,000 rpm (200 to 800 m/min, for 6.35 mm end-mill). The material used was a quasi-isotropic laminate comprising 35 plies of woven graphite epoxy. The tool wear was investigated on the flank and the rake faces. The machined slots were characterized in terms of straightness errors, dimensional errors, surface roughness, and delamination. The tool over-hang controls the tool dynamics, in this high speed range, and significantly affect various quality attributes of the produced holes; roughness, dimensional errors, and straightness. Similar trends were observed for the forces and the temperatures, whereby there is a given speed at which they reach a minimum and then they start to increase for higher speeds. The machining force and temperature trends with varying speeds and feeds are controlled by the chip load, the specific cutting pressures, and the effect of the frictional forces. The increased tool wear was found to directly affect the cutting forces and consequently lead to high delamination and surface roughness. The milled surface quality was mainly controlled by the feed rate. Limited surface delamination was observed due to the low axial forces associated with the routing process.