The influence of tool wear on delamination when drilling glass fibre reinforced epoxy composite with high speed steel and cemented carbide tools

This work is concerned with the machinability of a glass fibre reinforced epoxy composite when subjected to drilling at distinct cutting speeds and feed rates using high speed steel and tungsten carbide drills with similar geometries. The influence of tool material and machining parameters on tool wear and delamination were the principal aspects investigated. The results indicated that the high speed steel drill presented severe wear rates, which resulted in larger delamination areas after drilling 1000 holes, whereas the wear observed on the cemented carbide tool was negligible. Furthermore, the combination of tool wear with high cutting speed and low feed rate values resulted in an increase in the damaged area.