COMPOSITE MATERIALS AND

TECHNOLOGY

CHAPTER - 3
FABRICATION OF
COMPOSITES
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3.4 ABRASIVE JET MACHINING OF

COMPOSITES

The principle of abrasive jet machining tool is that the

high speed abrasive particles carried by high pressure
air or gas on to the work piece with the help of nozzle.
The metal removal occurs due to erosion caused by
abrasive particles impactly on to the work piece at
high speed.

THE METAL REMOVAL RATE DEPENDS ON

THE FOLLOWING FACTORS.

Abrasive parameters

Abrasive flow rate

Abrasive material used
Abrasive particle size

Mixing chamber parameters

Length of chamber
Shape of chamber
Dia of chamber

Type & size of nozzle used.

ADVANTGES & DISADVANTAGES

Advantages

Ability to cut different hole shapes

Heat sensitive materials are cutted without damaging
them
Low capital cost compare to other unconventional
machines.
Easy to handle & operate.
Disadvantages
Metal removal rate is less
Machining accuracy is poor.
Additional cleaning is required due to sticky of material.
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3.5 LASER BEAM MACHINING

WORKING OF LASER BEAM

MACHINING

The laser circuit consists of a pair of mirror source of

energy & a laser tube.
The laser crystal is made up of aluminum oxide into which
0.05% of chromium is added. This laser material requires
sources of energy; this source is obtained by flash lamp this
flash lamp is placed nearer to laser rod enclosing in a
highly reflecting box.
energy is given to flash lamp it flashes light and this light
is absorbed by laser rod by this electrons of an atom jumps
to higher energy level at this stage they are highly in stable
and they tried come back for original position.
While coming back to original position they gives out very
high energy beam of light which is obtained through lens
this high energy beam of light is known as laser beam

EXAMPLE OF LASER CUTTING

Laser cutting parameters for fiber glass polyester

composite

Gas used:- Helium

Pressure:- 0.56Mpa

Nozzle location:- Co-axial to beam

Beam mode:- TEM00kness is increased

Focal length:- 5

Co2 wavelength:- 10.6m

Pulse length of the order:- 10-40 sec

The performance of laser cutting depends upon

Depth of cut of composite

Cutting speed.
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ADVANTAGES &
DISADVANTAGES OF LBM

Advantages:-

Eliminate rough edges.

No tool wear

Accuracy in machining.

Scrap reduction

Cut in any direction

Hard & abrasive materials can be cut.

DisAdvantages:-

High capital cost

High maintenance cost

Produces smoke

Vaporization of metal occurs

Limitation on thickness due to taper.

3.6 ADHESIVE AND MECHANICAL JOINING OF COMPOSITES.

The main function of joining material is to transfer load

from one structure to the other.
The design of joints has a special significant in fiber
reinforced composite structure for two reasons.
Joints are the weakest areas in composites
Composite material joints redistribute local high stresses by yielding.

There are two types of joints used for composites.

Adhesive bonding
Mechanical Joints.
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ADHESIVE BONDED JOINT.

Various types of bonded joints are shown in above

Figs.

In adhesive bonding two separate materials are joined by

some type of adhesives (ex: Epoxy, polyurethane or methyl
acrycate). The parts that are joined are called substrates or
adherents.

The most common type of joint is a single lap joint where in

the load is transferred from one substrate to another by
shear stresses in the adhesive

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ADHESIVE BONDED JOINT.

The bending action caused by the applied load creates the normal
stresses in the thickness direction of the adhesive. The
combination of shear & normal stress get lap ends of the adhesive
reduce the joint strength in a single lap joint. To overcome the
bending effect a double lap joint is preferred.
In a double lap joint the bending force & therefore normal stresses
are eliminated. The joint strength obtained by double lap joint is
greater because of absence of normal stress.

The stepped & scarf joint as shown in fig.

It provides more strength than single lap joint but machining of
stepped or scarf end is difficult. In adhesively bonded joints the
load gets transferred from one member to another by shear &
therefore shear test are conducted on adhesives. For this reason
the adhesive supplier is seldom reports on the tensile strength of
the adhesive. The data reported by the adhesive supplier is
usually the shear strength obtained from a single lap joint test
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TYPICAL JOINT CONFIGURATIONS FOR

SANDWICH PANELS

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POSSIBLE FAILURE MODES IN BONDED

JOINTS BETWEEN FRP COMPOSITE
ADHERENTS

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SANDWICH PANEL OF HONEYCOMB

& SKIN

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SANDWICH PANEL OF HONEYCOMB

& SKIN

An expectation of this is that the tensile test are conducted by

sandwich panel manufactures to calculate the bond strength
between skin & honey comb core materials. This test is performed
for quality control purpose or for selecting the correct adhesive for
the sandwich structure.
In an honey comb cored sandwich structure, the bonded surface
area between the core & skin material is much less than the
surface area of the skin & therefore failure usually takes place at
interface.
When the bond strength test is performed for the two dissimilar
material (ex. Glass\epoxy & aluminum) the thickness of the
substrates is maintained such that the stiffness value of the
adhered materials are same i.e. E1 T1 = E2 T2.
E1,E2 are stiffness & T1,T2 are thickness.

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THE FOLLOWING POINTS ARE IMPORTANT

IN DESIGNING THE BONDED JOINT:-.

Tapering the substrate end at the ends of the

over lap reduces the high normal stress at the
location.
Increasing the ratio of lap length (L) to substrate
thickness (t) improves the joint strength.
To achieve maximum joint strength equal axial
stiffness the thickness & stiffness shoul be same,
E1,t1 = E2,t2.
High shear strength & tensile strength are
important characteristics of good adhesive.

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ADVANTAGES &
DISADVANTAGES OF BONDED
JOINTS

Advantages:-

Adhesive bonded joints are more resistant to flexural, fatigue & vibration
stresses than mechanical joints because of uniform stress distribution.
The weight penalty is negligible with adhesive bending compare to
mechanical joints.
Can be more easily adapted to join irregular surfaces than mechanical
joints.
Adhesive bonding is often less expensive & faster than mechanical
joining.

DisAdvantages:-

Adhesive bonding usually requires surface preparation before bonding.

Heat & pressure may be required during the bonding operation.

Health & safety is less.

Adhesive bonding crates a permanent bond & does not allow repeated assembly &
dis- assembly

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MECHANICAL JOINING

Mechanical joining is widely used in joining

metal components. Ex of mechanical joints are
bolting riveting screw & pin joints. Similar to the
mechanical joints of metal components, composite
components are also joined using metallic bolts,
pins & screws. Composite fasteners are used for
most mechanical joints, an overlap is required in
two mating members & a hole is created at the
overlap so that bolts are rivets can be inserted.

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BOLTED JOINTS

In bolted joints, nuts, bolts & washers are used to create the joint. In
riveting metal rivets are used. Bolted joints can be a single lap joints,
double lap joint, or butt joints.

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RIVETED JOINTS

Failure modes due to shear loading of riveted fasteners.

(a) Bending of member;
(b) shear of rivet;
(c) tensile failure of member;
(d) bearing of rivet on member or bearing of member on rivet.

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ADVANTAGES &
DISADVANTAGES OF
MECHANICAL JOINTS

Advantages:-

They allow repeated assembly & disassembly for repairs &

maintenance without destroying the parent materials.

They require little or no surface preparation.

They offer easy inspection & quality control.

DisAdvantages:-

Mechanical joints add weight to the structure & thus increase the
total weight of component.
Corrosion of components may occur when they are of two different
materials.
They create fiber discontinuity at the location where a hole is
drilled.
They also expose fibers to chemicals & other environments.

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3.7 MACHINING OF COMPOSITES:

Qualities should meet

The spindle speed & feed rate depends upon the thickness
of the laminar being machined & type of cutting methods.
Standard machining equipment can be used with some
small modifications.
No delamination or fraying cured composite edges.
The cutting tools required to perform the machining
operations such as countersink, band saw blades, HSS
drills & reamers.
It is important to maintain the sharpness of the tool or the
quality cuts & to minimize the delamination & proper
backup support should be provided o the work to prevent
delamination. The water & water soluble coolants are used
to remove excess resin buildup.

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COMPUTER AIDED DESIGN (CAD):-

Computer-aided design (CAD) is the use of computer

systems to assist in the creation, modification, analysis, or
optimization of a design.

Need for CAD

To increase productivity of the designer

To improve quality of the design

To improve communications

To create a manufacturing database

To create and test tool paths and optimize them

To help in production scheduling and MRP models

To have effective shop floor control.

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HOW DO CAD/CAM SYSTEMS WORK?

Developing NC code requires an understanding of:

Part geometry
Tooling
Process plans
Tolerances
Fixturing
Most CAD/CAM systems provide access to:
Part geometry
Tooling
Instructions can be generated for a generic NC machine
A set of tool paths and positions can be automatically generated
These paths can be edited and modified
These paths and instructions can then be posted to a specific
machine.

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