Investigation of production and drilling of abaka natural composites

Natural fiber reinforced composites replace synthetic composites such as glass and carbon fiber due to their environmental friendliness, nature compatibility, low cost, and relatively good mechanical properties. Plant-based natural fibers are renewable raw materials and are characterized by their low density. Thus, natural fiber composites represent an innovative class of materials. Although composite materials can be produced close to the desired shape, some of the traditional manufacturing methods such as drilling, turning and milling are also sometimes used. In this study, abaca reinforced polymer (ARP) composite, glass abaca reinforced polymer (GARP) composite with a layer of glass fiber on the outer surfaces and carbon abaca reinforced polymer (CARP) composites with a layer of carbon fiber on the outer surfaces were used as experimental materials. First, these composites were subjected to tensile testing and their tensile damage loads were determined. Then, the effects of spindle speed and feed on the cutting force, cutting temperature and delamination factor in drilling these composites were investigated. The tensile strength obtained from ATP composites was lower than the tensile strength obtained from GARP and CARP composites. The maximum damage loads obtained from the tensile test of ATP, GARP and CARP composite samples were obtained as 2884 N, 6864 N and 22100 N, respectively. The cutting forces that occur in the drilling of ATP, GARP and CARP composites are affected by the spindle speed and feed rate. The cutting temperatures were raised with the spindle speed increases. This causes a decrease in cutting forces. The cutting forces are high at high feed rates. Increasing spindle speed and feed increased cutting temperature and delamination factor. While less deformation occurred in the drilling of ATP natural composites, higher deformation occurred in the drilling of GARP and CARP composites due to the presence of glass and carbon fiber layers.