Modeling Process Forces in CFRP Grinding: Influence of Cutting Materials and Coolant on Process Force Behavior

Abstract

Carbon Fibre Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) is favoured for its high strength to weight ratio, excellent directional mechanical and thermal properties, and the ability to be optimized in the direction of stress or heat flow. These properties make it ideal for power transmission applications. Meeting the high-quality requirements in this area requires a precise grinding process and a thorough understanding of cutting forces, which are influenced by different factors e.g. coolant usage, or cutting material. However, machining unidirectional CFRP is challenging due to its anisotropic behaviour, resulting in different machining forces for identical parameters with different fibre orientations.

A universal process-independent model was recently developed to describe the engagement conditions during oblique cutting of unidirectional CFRP by introducing the spatial fibre cutting angle θ₀ and the spatial engagement angle φ₀. Using this description, an universal mechanistic machining force model for grinding of CFRP was developed.

In the paper, an extension of the model of oblique cutting for grinding is extended and experimentally verified, taking into account additional parameters e.g. coolant and cutting material. Therefore, the process forces were measured as a function of the spatial fibre cutting angles for different cutting materials, both with and without the use of coolant.