Determination of optimal temperature range and prediction of tool life to ensure hole quality during continuous drilling of CFRP composites

Abstract

Drilling temperature significantly affects the quality of CFRP (Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer) composite processing, yet studies on its continuous measurement are limited. This paper addresses this gap by developing an enhanced material model within the VUMAT subroutine and a 3D mechanical-thermal coupling model to simulate continuous drilling. A wireless temperature measurement system is designed to collect real-time data, and experiments are conducted to identify the optimal temperature range for CFRP composites. To predict tool life and ensure hole quality, a hybrid Gaussian classifier and polynomial regression model are developed. The results show that the maximum temperature and damage factor errors are within 6.13 % and 15.28 %, respectively, confirming the model's reliability. The maximum temperature trend correlates with tool wear and hole roughness, establishing that temperature changes can reflect tool wear. The optimal temperature range is found to be 41.5 °C to 112 °C, with a goodness of fit of 0.944 and average variance of 0.002. This study enhances the efficiency and precision of continuous drilling in CFRP composites, offering valuable insights for industries like aerospace, automotive, and construction.