Analysis of delamination in drilling of GFRP composites using Taguchi Technique

The Hole making operation on composite materials is complex and problematic this is due to GFRP’s inherent anisotropy and in-homogeneity as compared with metallic materials. The present work is focusing on the effect of cutting parameters and material parameters on delamination of the drilled hole is analyzed and optimum cutting condition for minimizing the delamination is determined to improve the hole quality. The parameters considered for drilling operation are speed, feed, thickness, fiber orientation and material thickness. The optimization of process parameters done by Taguchi’s S/N ratio analysis for delamination in drilling of GFRP composites. ANOVA (Analysis of Variance) test was conducted to analyze the significant effect of process parameters on delamination. From the experimental results it is evident that Peel-up delamination is highly influenced by the material thickness and followed by the feed rate and fiber orientation, similarly the feed rate having the significant effect on the Push-down delamination next to the material thickness. A Regression–based model is developed to predict the delamination and good agreement between the experimental and predicted results is obtained with order of 98%.