Orthogonal machining of UD-CFRP composites

Orthogonal machining of unidirectional carbon fibre reinforced plastic composites is simulated using finite element method based on experiments. The cutting forces during orthogonal machining were studied both experimentally and numerically for a range of fibre orientations, depths of cut and tool rake angles. The failure of fibre is found to be a combination of bending and crushing for higher fibre orientation, while the bending effect becomes more significant for lower fibre orientation. The cutting forces mainly varies with fibre orientation and depth of cut. The cutting and thrust forces predicted by FE simulations matched well with the experimental results.