Drilling of glare laminates: effect of cutting parameters on process forces and temperatures

Drilling operations in fibre metal laminates (FML) require a considerable optimization activity of the machining parameters as a function of those used in drilling of its constituents, fibre reinforced polymers and aluminium alloy. The accurate choice of drilling parameters is essential to minimize any defects of machined surface and inside the material that may compromise the structural integrity of part: these aspects become more critical in dry machining used in aeronautic field. Several authors have studied FML drilling, but they focused their attention mostly on the cutting forces, torque, drill wear, surface quality and hole damage. Instead, very little literature exists about temperature field that develops during FML drilling and in particular, no numerical models have been developed to predict this issue. The aim of this work is to monitor the cutting force and temperature measured on the tool and workpiece during dry drilling of Al/GFRP hybrid laminates (GLARE). In particular, the trend of the thrust force and temperature according to the main process parameters has been analysed. In addition, a first numerical model for analysing the process temperature trend during drilling has been developed.