Experimental Study on Orthogonal Cutting of 0° T700/LT03A CFRP Uniform Laminates

Carbon fiber reinforced polymers (CFRP) are increasingly used in aerospace and other industries, due to its high specific strength and stiffness. Machining operations are involved between forming fabrication and assembling as a fining process, during which defects like delamination, burrs and splintering are the main cause of substandard products. This is because that CFRP is a typical difficult to machine material with distinct anisotropy and heterogeneity. Thus machinability of CFRP material under different fiber orientations is a main issue. This paper intensively investigated on cutting forces and temperatures when orthogonal cutting of 0° T700/LT03A CFRP uniform laminates, with fiber orientation from 0°to 180°. Material removal mechanisms and carbon fiber fraction modes under various fiber orientations were discussed. The results showed that fiber orientation of 90°is the worst scenario of cutting, under which condition the force and temperature of the highest level, while that of 150°indicates the other. The results of cutting temperature indicated that it is mainly from the friction heat in the zone III generated by the thrust force.