Publication

Abstract : In the past few decades, polymer based fiber reinforced composites havebeen the prime materials chosen over the conventional materials in many indus-tries, whereby drilling has been the secondary manufacturing process adopted forstructural integration. Many specific characteristics of composites such as markedanisotropy, structural non-homogeneity, abrasiveness and lack of plastic deformationdetermine the behavior of composites during machining; this has makes it differentthan machining conventional materials in many respects. The principal objective ofthis work is to present a detailed literature review on drilling polymer compositeswith a focus on delamination. Aspects such as delamination mechanisms, fabricationmethods, the type of drilling process adopted by various researchers, cutting parame-ters employed during drilling, mathematical delamination modelling, effect of thrustforce, spindle speed, thermal loads, tool wear, surface roughness, tool geometry andtool materials on delamination and hole quality are summarized. In addition, therole of digital image processing in delamination assessment was also studied. Con-siderable efforts have been made by various researchers to comprehend delaminationmechanisms, and there is still a demand for characterizing delamination with theimplementation of nano-filler materials, the use of blended epoxy resins, reducedwear on drill tools, real-time drilling monitoring, the effect of stack supports and fiberstacking order, higher quality hole production and avoiding de-burring.