CFRP Drilling Experiments: Investigation on Defect Behaviors and Material Interface Detection for Minimizing Delamination

CFRP (Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic) and CFRP-metal stacks have recently been widely used in the aerospace and automobile industries. When CFRP is machined by a brittle fracture mechanism, defect generation behaviors are different from those associated with metal cutting. The machining quality is strongly dependent on the properties of CFRP materials. Therefore, process control for CFRP machining is necessary to minimize the defects of differently manufactured CFRPs. In this study, defects in drilling of CFRP substrates with a variety of fiber directions and resin types are compared with respect to thrust force. An experimental study on material interface detection is carried out to investigate its benefits in process control.