An investigative study on the application of different statistical tools and methods for optimizing the hole machining on polymer matrix composites – A review

Machining is one of the unavoidable operation after the processing of any type of material. Because of the advancement in the technology and innovation in the materials area, the composite materials are replacing and occupying the traditional materials market rapidly. Among these composite materials, the Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) composite materials are found to be technically and structurally competitive and are widely used in a number of engineering industrial applications. The machining of these composites is found to be a complex phenomenon due to the influence of a number of machining and material parameters related to machining. Since drilling is the most frequently applied machining operation on composites, many research works were done on the drilling of composites, which resulted in numerous parameters that have influence on the drilling operation, impact on work material and cutting tool damage, cost of machining, material removal rate etc. So, at the background, it was thought to have a review on the issues related to drilling on the composite materials, which could help the manufacturing sectors and researchers in order to enhance the productivity. Thus the aim of this technical paper is to provide a detailed study of various issues related to drilling of FRP composite materials. This paper also comprehensively addresses the success and the failures of drilling operations, the factors associated with the drilling operation, their impact on the various output parameters. In addition, this review paper also discusses about the influences of a number of machining parameters and their influence on machining.