Optimization of Drilling Parameters of GFRP with Liquid Silicone Rubber and Fine Silica Powder by Taguchi Approach

This paper deals with the study of effect of machining parameters on burr height and fibre pullout while drilling on hybrid Fibre Reinforced Polymer (FRP) composite materials. Hybrid composite materials composed of Glass Fibre Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) with liquid silicone rubber and fine silica powder. Laminates of hybrid GFRP are prepared at process parameters like pressure of 100 kgf, temperature of 50 °C and time of 40 min by compression molding technique. The main objective of this study the influence of fiber volume fraction with liquid silicone rubber and fine silica powder on the burr height and fibre pullout in drilling of hybrid FRP composite. The effect of drilling parameters such as cutting speed, feed rate, drill point angle and tool material on drilling hybrid GFRP is studied and optimized by making use of Taguchi design and ANOVA analysis. The results are analyzed by making use of L9 Orthogonal Array (OA) and signal to noise ratio (S/N ratio). The obtained result shows that, very small burr height (0.08 mm and 0.07 mm) was observed in both the materials having matrix weight ratio 60:40 and 50:50. It is almost same burr height in both the materials. Whereas small fibre pullout of 1.01 mm is noticed in material having matrix weight ratio 50:50 than fibre pullout of 2.9 mm in material having matrix weight ratio 60:40. The results are validated by conducting confirmation test.