Thesis
Manufacturing and drilling of modern-day composite material systems
Washington State University
Master of Science (MS), Washington State University
05/2016
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/100309
Abstract
Fiber-reinforced plastic (FRP) composite materials are ever increasing in utility across numerous industries due to their excellent mechanical, environmental, and manufacturing performance and versatility. Yet as the proliferation of FRP materials continues to expand, a number of manufacturing and machining challenges still exist. Manufacturing of large glass-fiber reinforced plastic (GFRP) composites for such structures like yachts via vacuum-infusion processing is labor-intensive and suffers from many infusion-related defects. Drilling holes in carbon-fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) and CFRP/Titanium stacks popularized by the aerospace industry is essential to fitting out modern day aircraft. Tool wear understanding and proper drill tool options are still lacking, however. In this investigation, an automated approach to the vacuum-infusion process for large marine structures is evaluated. Drilling of CFRP and CFRP/Ti stacks is systematically performed and the effects on tool wear, coating performance and hole quality is conducted. For CFRP drilling, TiAlN hard-coatings are employed in a dry-drilling and coolant-assisted drilling environment. For the CFRP/Ti stack system, hard-coatings based on new diamond-like carbon v (DLC), boron-aluminum-magnesium (BAM), and AlCrSiN technol (DLC), boron-aluminum-magnesium (BAM), and AlCrSiN technology are evaluated for their wear performance and hole quality. Automating the vacuum-assisted resin transfer molding (VaRTM) for marine structures showed a slight improvement to the mechanical performance of large marine structures, the potential for decreased human intervention in the current manual VaRTM process, and decreased defect formation. In drilling CFRP with TiAlN-coated tools in a dry and coolant-assisted environment, the wear of dry-drilling was primarily abrasive but with coolant was shown to have higher thrust force & coating failure. Hole quality was diminished by coolant usage. The performance of hard-coatings in the CFRP/Ti stack system showed a significant removal of BAM and DLC coatings within the first 20 holes drilled at locations along the drill cutting edge and margin. AlCrSiN coatings remained intact. All drills suffered from edge rounding in the CFRP and CFRP/Ti stack environment. Significant catastrophic tool failure and Ti-adhesion were evident in Ti and CFRP/Ti stack environments. In general, the consistency of holes drilled with hard-coatings intact in all three material systems was influenced by maintaining an intact coating and tool substrate.
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Details
- Title
- Manufacturing and drilling of modern-day composite material systems
- Creators
- Samuel Robert Swan
- Contributors
- Dae-Wook Kim (Chair)Hakan Berat Gurocak (Committee Member) - Washington State University, Engineering and Computer Science (VANC), School ofJong Hoon Kim (Committee Member) - Washington State University, Engineering and Computer Science (VANC), School of
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, School of
- Theses and Dissertations
- Master of Science (MS), Washington State University
- Publisher
- Washington State University; [Pullman, Washington] :
- Number of pages
- 159
- Identifiers
- 99900524883401842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Thesis