Laboratory for Manufacturing and Sustainability

Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) composites are being increasingly used as replacements for metals in engineering applications. Though these composites are manufactured in near-net shape, machining is often necessary for integration and assembly. The most common machining operation performed on these materials is drilling. A commonly observed defect in drilling is edge defects which include incomplete fiber cutting. This report discusses a model which estimates edge defects during FRP drilling. Results predicted by the model are compared to experimental observations and possible techniques to characterize defects in FRP drilling are discussed.