Hole Quality Assurance by Optimization of Drilling Parameters for Carbon Fiber Composite Material

Composites are finding more and more applications in the aircraft industry. Drilling good quality holes is a major challenge for the manufacturing industry. The major factors which have an effect on hole quality are cutting parameters like speed and feedrate, machine rigidity, tool material, workpiece material, and tool geometry. The hole quality was studied by measuring the hole diameter and visually observing other parameters like shape and fiber breakout. Force analysis indicates that thrust increases with an increase in feedrate. Speed does not seem to have a very significant effect on thrust. The tool geometry plays a very important role in fiber pullout.