Analysis of uncut fibres at machined holes in carbon fibre-reinforced plastics (CFRP) using digital image processing

Abstract

Unlike metals, carbon fibre-reinforced plastics (CFRP) have anisotropic and inhomogeneous structure, in addition the reinforcements have strong wear-effect. Therefore those are difficult-to-cut materials. The main aim of this research is to find relation between the cutting tool diameter and the quality of the machined holes in CFRP. Milling experiments were designed using the full factorial design of experiments method. The experiments were conducted on a Kondia B640 machining centre. The machined surfaces were scanned with a digital microscope; the collected data were evaluated by digital image processing (DIP) techniques. The influence of tool-diameter and feed rate were examined and discussed in order to optimise the hole-machining process in CFRP.