Measurement and analysis of thrust force in drilling of particle board (PB) composite panels

► The measurement and analysis of thrust force is carried out. ► The results are analyzed for Particle Board (PB) a composite panel which is new. ► The thrust force in wood composite panels is modeled using RSM. ► The effect of factors and interactions on thrust force in drilling is analyzed. ► The drilled holes are analyzed using scanning electron micrograph. Particleboard is a wood based composite extensively used in wood working. Drilling is the most commonly used machining process in furniture industries. The surface characteristics and the damage free drilling are significantly influenced by the machining parameters. The thrust force developed during drilling play a major role in gaining the surface quality and minimizing the delamination tendency. The objective of this study is to measure and analyze the cutting conditions which influences the thrust force in drilling of particle board panels. The parameters considered are spindle speed, feed rate and point angle. The drilling experiments are performed based on Taguchi’s design of experiments and a response surface methodology (RSM) based mathematical model is developed to predict the influence of cutting parameters on thrust force. The results showed that high spindle speed with low feed rate combination minimizes the thrust force in drilling of pre-laminated particle board (PB) panels.