Effects of reinforcements and cutting parameters on machinability of polypropylene-based biocomposite reinforced with biocarbon particles and chopped miscanthus fibers.

New biocomposites are increasingly being developed and applied in engineering and manufacturing. The reinforcement type used in biocomposite is one of the major factors that greatly affect the machinability of biocomposite. This study investigated the drilling of two biocomposites (polypropylene-based biocomposite reinforced with biocarbon M1 (30 wt% biocarbon + PP/POE/MAPP) and chopped miscanthus fibers M2 (30 wt% miscanthus + PP/POE/MAPP)). A full factorial design was used for this study. The effects of drilling parameters and reinforcement types on surface roughness, thrust force, specific cutting energy, fine particles, and ultrafine particle generation were measured and analyzed. The results show that the thrust force and specific cutting energy during drilling of biocomposite M1 is bigger than that of biocomposite M2 under the same cutting conditions. However, the surface roughness and fine dust emitted when drilling biocomposite M1 are smaller than those from biocomposite M2, respectively. The reinforcement types of biocomposite, cutting parameters and drill diameter greatly affected fine particles emission. Meanwhile, the cutting conditions are not statistically significant for ultrafine particle generation during dry drilling of both biocomposites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]