The Effect of Cutting Parameters on Tool Wear During the Milling of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) Composites

Abstract

Reduction of machining times and optimization of cutting parameters and conditions hold great importance in machining processes. Milling is among the most important machining processes used for machining of fiber-reinforced composite materials. The present research was carried out to investigate the effect of cutting parameters on tool wear during the milling of carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) materials which are widely used in aviation and aerospace industries. A multi-directional CFRP composite material with 6 mm width and 26 layers was used as the workpiece. The tests were performed under dry conditions on a CNC vertical processing center with 100, 200 and 300 m/min cutting speeds; 0.05 , 0.15 and 0.25 mm/tooth feedrates and at 1 mm constant cutting width. To understand the wear process, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analyses of the worn surfaces were performed.