Machining of CFRP/Ti6Al4V stacks under minimal quantity lubricating condition

Light weight and high strength materials like carbon fiber reinforce plastics (CFRP), Titanium alloys (Ti) and stacks (CFRP/Ti, CFRP/Al, CFRP/Al/Ti) are being extensively used in commercial aircraft. Drilling process on the aircraft components was carried out to facilitate the assembly process. Drilling operations are made under dry condition which leads to tool wear and poor hole quality. In this paper study on drilling of CFRP/Ti6Al4V stacks under minimum quantity lubrication (MQL) using LRT 30 oil with varying flow rate, spindle speed and feed rate have been carried out using three modified drill tool made of solid carbide (K 20) coated with TiAlN. The recital of the tools were evaluated based on hole quality, burr height, thrust force, chip formation and tool wear. It was found that TG1 tool performance was better by producing minimum burr height while drilling Ti. TG2 recital was better by producing minimum force and better hole quality.