Study on drilling parameters of GFRP-PUF sandwich composites

Sandwich composites are becoming popular in structural design for their ability to decrease weight while maintaining mechanical performance. In this work, studies related to the effect of parameters such as feed, speed and dimeter of drilling tool on drilling Polyurethane Foam (PUF) sandwiched between Glass Fiber Reinforced Plastic (GFRP) laminates is carried out. Sandwich composites of different densities and thickness are considered. Through the analysis it is found that output thrust force value increases as feed rate is increased and thrust decreases with drill speed. Also, thrust is dependent on thickness and drill bit diameter. (c) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.