Assessment of circularity error in drilling of cenosphere reinforced epoxy composites

In automobiles, aircrafts and under water vehicles structural applications syntactic foams are widely used due to their superior specific mechanical properties and offered light weightiness. Fly ash cenosphere embedded epoxy resin forms one such syntactic foam addressing environmental concerns. In the present work mathematical models based on full factorial design are proposed using response surface methodology to study the effect of speed, drill dia., feed and % of cenosphere content on error in circularity of the drilled hole by tungsten carbide twist drill. Experimental studies reveal that error in circularity is mainly governed by drilling speed and drill diameter. Further higher cenosphere loading plays a crucial role in minimizing error in circularity.