An experimental study on milling of natural fiber (jute)- reinforced polymer composites

Abstract

The interest in materials having natural, environmentally friendly, renewable and low density/cost is increasing day by day due to sanctions imposed to reduce the emission rates, especially the Kyoto Protocol. In recent years, the use of environmentally friendly composites by using natural fibers such as flax, jute and sisal has increased in engineering applications. Milling operation has frequently been an important method of machining which can achieve the desired dimensions and tolerances for the plate-shaped parts. In this study, the effects of cutting parameters such as cutting speed and feed rate on cutting force, delamination factor and surface roughness in end milling of jute fiber-reinforced polymer composite plates with different orientation angle (0°/90°, 30°/−60° and ±45°) were examined by using the cemented carbide (WC) end mills (two, three and four number of flutes). Cutting force, deformation factor and surface roughness were found to be influenced by the feed rate and cutting speeds. In addition, increasing the number of the flutes of the cutting tools reduced the cutting force, delamination factor and surface roughness.

Cutting Processes of Natural Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Composites

“…In general, the delamination factor and surface damage were significantly affected by the machining parameters [ 10 , 27 ]. For instance, the delamination factor had increased in the presence of both of the cutting parameters (Speed and Feed) as revealed by Venkateshwaran et al [ 30 ].…”

“…[ 2 , 4 , 6 , 7 , 8 ]. Although the NFRP composites are manufactured near-net shape, they still need some final cutting processes to reach the shape required such as drilling, cutting, and trimming processes [ 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 ]. Composite materials do not behave like conventional materials under different cutting processes, because of their different properties.…”

“…Hence, some defects have emerged which require a thorough study of the cutting properties of composite materials to avoid these defects or to reduce their impact [ 9 , 15 , 16 , 17 ]. For instance, several defects have arose as a result of the cutting process such as material damage at cutting edges and dimensional instability due to the deformations caused by cutting forces in addition to poor surface roughness [ 10 , 18 ]. In actual fact, the type of cutting process and its variable parameters control the product quality [ 7 ].…”

Machinability of hybrid natural fiber reinforced composites with cellulose micro filler incorporation

“…The natural fibers such as sisal, baggase, cotton, pineapple, flax, coir, banana, kenaf, and ramie were investigated for good applications. 1–5…”

“…The natural fibers such as sisal, baggase, cotton, pineapple, flax, coir, banana, kenaf, and ramie were investigated for good applications. [1][2][3][4][5] The natural fiber reinforcement was provided with various surface treatments to improve the hydrophilic properties in their structure. Natural composite properties were improved by hybridization using fibers, filler incorporation and coupling agents.…”