An analytical tool wear model for drilling of continuous fibre reinforced composites
type: CreativeWork
description: Carbon fibre reinforced polymers (CFRP) are increasingly being used in aerospace structures due to high specific stiffness and good corrosion resistance. Drilling holes to facilitate the mechanical joining of CFRP to other, metallic components is a key operation during aircraft manufacture and high rates of tool wear are experienced in commercial practice. Unmonitored tool wear can lead to increased cutting forces, heighted cutting temperatures, and subsequently, delamination, fibre pull out or thermal degradation of the polymer matrix. Understanding the tool wear mechanism is crucial as it not only affects the hole quality, and therefore structural integrity of the component, but also production planning and cost. Existing research has focused on experimentally observing the relationships between tool wear and drilling parameters (cutting speeds and feed rates), tool design (geometry and tool coatings) composite properties (polymer matrix and reinforcing fibre) and environmental conditions (drilling temperature). However, knowledge gaps are apparent when it comes to understanding the physics relating these variations to the magnitude and rate of tool wear. The optimum method of addressing this research gap is through the use of computational models or simulations, however existing works do not produce informative results regarding the progression of tool wear throughout the course of the tool’s life. Thus, the aim of this thesis is to define a method of modelling the severity and progression of tool wear when drilling fibre reinforced composites. This is based on the hypothesis that by building an analytical tool wear model based on known machining, geometric, structural and environmental parameters, the magnitude and shape of tool wear can be calculated, giving informative results in a time efficient manner. Consequently, informed through a dense literature review, this research has identified an appropriate, cyclic analytical modelling methodology for the drillin…
abstract: Carbon fibre reinforced polymers (CFRP) are increasingly being used in aerospace structures due to high specific stiffness and good corrosion resistance. Drilling holes to facilitate the mechanical joining of CFRP to other, metallic components is a key operation during aircraft manufacture and high rates of tool wear are experienced in commercial practice. Unmonitored tool wear can lead to increased cutting forces, heighted cutting temperatures, and subsequently, delamination, fibre pull out or thermal degradation of the polymer matrix. Understanding the tool wear mechanism is crucial as it not only affects the hole quality, and therefore structural integrity of the component, but also production planning and cost. Existing research has focused on experimentally observing the relationships between tool wear and drilling parameters (cutting speeds and feed rates), tool design (geometry and tool coatings) composite properties (polymer matrix and reinforcing fibre) and environmental conditions (drilling temperature). However, knowledge gaps are apparent when it comes to understanding the physics relating these variations to the magnitude and rate of tool wear. The optimum method of addressing this research gap is through the use of computational models or simulations, however existing works do not produce informative results regarding the progression of tool wear throughout the course of the tool’s life. Thus, the aim of this thesis is to define a method of modelling the severity and progression of tool wear when drilling fibre reinforced composites. This is based on the hypothesis that by building an analytical tool wear model based on known machining, geometric, structural and environmental parameters, the magnitude and shape of tool wear can be calculated, giving informative results in a time efficient manner. Consequently, informed through a dense literature review, this research has identified an appropriate, cyclic analytical modelling methodology for the drillin…
author: McClelland, John
language: eng
keywords: Drilling, CFRP, tool wear, analytical methods, abrasion
date published: 2020-12
date modified: 2026-07-24T03:55:25Z
provider: Queen's University Belfast
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Queen's University Belfast