Effect of Different Cutting Depths to the Cutting Forces and Machining Quality of CFRP Parts in Orthogonal Cutting: A Numerical and Experimental Comparison

The necessity of understanding the influence of cutting variables in orthogonal cutting of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) is vital because of their significant influences to the quality of manufactured parts. In this present research work the influences of different cutting depths to the cutting and thrust forces have been analyzed and a comparison between an equivalent homogeneous material (EHM) macro-model and experimental results have been made. The reasons of the beginning high cutting and thrust forces have been studied and explained. The post analysis of the experimental machined surfaces has been done to analyze the generated surface roughness and fiber-matrix interface crack generation. Five different cutting depths and four individual fiber orientations have been tested both numerically and experimentally. Significant influence of cutting depths to the cutting force has been found and the surface quality of newly generated machined part is discovered as a function of cutting depth and fiber orientation.