Analytical Study on Delamination Drilling and Milling of Composite Material and Related Composite Metal Stacks

This article characterizes the special features of machining composite in comparison to machining metal. Simplified theoretic models will demonstrate how CFRP should be machined without delamination, burn marks and cutting tool breakages. Different strategies can be chosen depending on the material removal rate. The paper will present, based on this analytical approach, how milling cutters should be designed for optimal trimming, and how a drill should be designed in order to avoid the entrance, inner and exit delamination. While entrance and exit delamination is well understood, the paper will focus more to the delamination inside the bore. The appearance and the avoidance of the so called "Volcano Effect" and the reason why holes in composite becomes smaller after a couple of days will be explained. The comparison between 4 different cutting tool technologies will prove and give a better understanding how to use this theoretical approach.