Zeitschrift für Materialwissenschaften und Ingenieurwesen

Drilling Process Design for Hybrid Structures of Polymer Composites over Titanium Alloy

Abstract

El-Gizawy A. Sherif, Khasawneh FA and Bogis Haitham

This work aims at determination of optimum drilling process design for hybrid structures of polymer composites over titanium alloy in order to reach the needed quality and cost effectiveness for the aerospace industry. A set of experiments are designed to investigate the effects of process variables on the required torques and thrust forces and quality of the drilled holes. Surface response methodology is used to analyze the results. Process maps are introduced based on the experimental results and the optimum conditions for producing quality holes. Evaluation of the presented approach for process design is conducted using carbon fiber reinforced epoxy (IM7/977-3) composites over 6Al-4V titanium alloy (AB1) structure. The proposed study helps in approving the effectiveness of the new approach and in exploring the global optimum drilling parameters for damage free production of aerospace hybrid structures.