Research On Side Milling Process Of CFRP

At present, carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites are increasingly being used for awide range of applications in the aerospace and automotive industries, owing to their superiorphysical and mechanical properties. However, the highly abrasive nature of the carbon fibers and thelow thermal conductivity of the resin matrix result in rapid tool wear, thus affecting the performanceof cutting tools and surface quality. In view of this, T800/epoxy CFRP side milling experiments withcutting tools of different coatings and geometries are done to reveal the factors influence themachining quality and tool life, which would provide a technical support for “low defects and longlife” machining.The main research works completed are as follows:(1) Influence of CFRP property and cutting tool feature on machining quality are analyzed by sidemilling experiments with fixed cutting parameters. Characteristics and mechanism of machiningdefects are also analyzed according to the testing result of surface quality. A series of evaluationmethod is put forward to quantify surface quality.(2) Pattern and mechanism of tool wear are studied by side milling experiments of multidirectionalCFRP with different mills. Influences of fiber direction on tool wear is also analyzed by sideexperiments with different cutting directions. The best tool feature and cutting direction is optimizedto reach a long tool life.(3) Full factor experiment is carried out to study the influence of spindle speed n and feed speed vfon machining quality and tool life. A set of cutting parameters is optimized to obtain a bettermachining quality, a longer tool life and a higher machining efficiency.