Polymeric composites become the most common alternatives for traditional metallic materials for a wide range of industrial applications, in the automotive industry polymeric materials and polymeric composites replaced a huge percentage of metallic parts. Polymeric composites are light in weight, easy to form, and have a lot of other properties that are recommended for automotive and other industries. But - on the other hand- the machining of polymeric parts has restrictions and limitations because of the likelihood of damage to these parts during machining operations. Cracks, tears, fiber pull-out, softness, fracture as well as surface roughness are common examples of damage to polymeric composites while machining. The present work is concerned with measuring of surface finish and generated temperature of machined parts during the drilling of carbon fiber-reinforced composites. Reducing surface roughness and machining temperature are the objectives of this work to improve the ability of polymeric composites to be safely drilled (machined). The proposed polymeric composites consist of epoxy reinforced with carbon fiber as well as some fillers to enhance the machining properties of epoxy composites. The results show that using metallic fillers (copper powder, MoS2 powder) under selected cutting conditions remarkably improved the machinability of carbon fiber-reinforced epoxy composites.
Key words: Machining of polymer composites, epoxy composites, solid lubricant, metallic fillers and surface roughness
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