Cutting force analysis on drilling of natural fiber reinforced polymer composites material

Abstract

Since last few years, the usage of natural fibres has increased because natural fibre is cheaper and more reliable which involves more societal applications. Natural fibre is considered to be society friendly because it gives only less or no harm to humanity. It is biodegradable and less expensive. In this work, the investigation has been carried out on natural fibre reinforced polymer composites prepared using jute fibre and isophthalic polyester matrix along with a solid lubricant. Then they are well mixed with suitable hardener and accelerator for promoting polymerisation. The composite specimen was prepared with short chopped jute fibres of approximately 10 mm in length by using hand layup process with suitable pressure. The composite specimen was prepared according to ASTM standards. Subsequently drilling operation has been carried out in a CNC vertical machining centre using three different types of drilling tools. Here the different types of tools used are Tungsten Carbide, Cobalt and HSS. The cutting force was measured using the Kistler dynamometer, which is an integral part of the vertical machining centre. It has been observed that different drill tools have different variations in forces, but the force obtained by drilling tungsten carbide tool was understood to offer a better result.