Search Results (9)

Dicyclopentadiene (DCPD)–poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) core–shell fibers were fabricated via coaxial electrospinning to develop a self-healing polymer composite. A PMMA shell containing a first-generation Grubbs catalyst was co-spun with a DCPD core at 0.5 mL h⁻¹ and 28 kV, yielding smooth, cylindrical fibers. The diameter range of nanofibers was 300–900 nm, with 95% below 800 nm, as confirmed by FESEM image analysis. FTIR spectroscopy monitored shell integrity via the PMMA C=O stretch and core polymerization via the trans-C=C bands. The high presence of the 970 cm⁻¹ band in the healed nanofiber mat and the minor appearance in the uncut core–shell mat demonstrated successful DCPD polymerization mostly where the intended damage was. The optical clarity of PMMA enabled the direct monitoring of healing progress via optical microscopy. The presented findings demonstrate that PMMA can retain a liquid active core and catalyst to form a polymer layer on a damaged site and could be used as a model material for other self-healing systems that require healing monitoring. Full article

A progressive damage model for aramid honeycomb cutting was proposed to reveal its cutting damage mechanism. It established the relationship between the mesoscale failure modes and the macroscale cutting damage types of the aramid honeycomb. The proposed model addressed the material assignment problem of impregnated honeycomb by developing a material calculation method that simulates the real manufacturing process of the aramid honeycomb. Cutting experiment of aramid honeycomb specimen was conducted concerning on the cutting forces response and cutting damages, which validated that the proposed method was effective for investigating the cutting process and mechanism for the aramid honeycomb. Predicted cutting mechanism results show that: (a) cutting process of the aramid honeycomb can be divided into three stages with four characteristic states—initial state, cut-in state, cut-out state and final state; (b) cell wall bending in the cutting direction relieves the cutting force, and strong plasticity of the aramid fiber makes it hard to break, which lead to uncut fiber and burr damages; (c) using sharp tip cutting tool to reduce cutting force and bonding both top and bottom of the honeycomb to make it stiffer are beneficial to obtain good cutting quality with less damages. Full article

This article presents a comprehensive thermomechanical analysis and failure assessment in the drilling of glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) composites with different thicknesses using a CNC machine and cemented carbide drill with a diameter of 6 mm and point angles of ϕ = 118°. The temperature distribution through drilling was measured using two techniques. The first technique was based on contactless measurements using an IR Fluke camera. The second was based on contact measurements using two thermocouples inserted inside the drill bit. A Kistler dynamometer was used to measure the cutting forces. The delamination factors at the hole exit and hole entry were quantified by using the image processing technique. Multi-variable regression analysis and surface plots were performed to illustrate the significant coefficients and contribution of the machining variables (i.e., feed, speed, and laminate thickness) on machinability parameters (i.e., the thrust force, torque, temperatures, and delamination). It is concluded that the cutting time, as a function of machining variables, has significant control over the induced temperature and, thus, the force, torque, and delamination factor in drilling GFRP composites. The maximum temperature recorded by the IR camera is lower than that of the instrumented drill because the IR camera cannot directly measure the tool–work interaction zone during the drilling process. At the same cutting condition, it is observed that by increasing the thickness of the specimen, the temperature increased. Increasing the thickness from 2.6 to 7.7 had a significant effect on the heat distribution of the HAZ. At a smaller thickness, increasing the cutting speed from 400 to 1600 rpm decreased the maximum thrust force by 15%. The push-out delaminations of the GFRP laminate were accompanied by edge chipping, spalling, and uncut fibers, which were higher than those of the peel-up delaminations. Full article

In this paper, the tool wear mechanisms for low-frequency vibration-assisted drilling (LF-VAD) of carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP)/Ti6Al4V stacks are investigated at various machining parameters. Based on the kinematics analysis, the effect of vibration amplitude on the chip formation, uncut chip thickness, chip radian, and axial velocity are examined. Subsequently, the effect of LF-VAD on the cutting temperature, tool wear, delamination, and geometrical accuracy was evaluated for different vibration amplitudes. The LF-VAD with the utilization of minimum quantity lubricant (MQL) resulted in a successful drilling process of 50 holes, with a 63% reduction in the cutting temperature. For the rake face, LF-VAD reduced the adhered height of Ti6Al4V by 80% at the low cutting speed and reduced the crater depth by 33% at the high cutting speed. On the other hand, LF-VAD reduced the flank wear land by 53%. Furthermore, LF-VAD showed a significant enhancement on the CFRP delamination, geometrical accuracy, and burr formation. Full article

The objective of this study is to investigate the tribological behavior of graphene nanoplatelets (xGnPs) as nano-solid lubricants, and to evaluate their applicability to the micro-drilling of multi-directional carbon fiber-reinforced plastic (MD-CFRP). To verify the tribological effect of nano-solid lubricants, three kinds of xGnPs (xGnP C-750, xGnP M-5, and xGnP H-5), multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), and hBN are compared by the ball-on-plate test. Of these, three xGnPs are selected as nano-solid lubricants to investigate the micro-drilling performance of MD-CFRP using nano-solid dry lubrication, and the experimental results demonstrate that all xGnPs can enhance lubrication action in terms of surface quality (delamination, uncut fiber, and inner surface) and tool wear. In particular, larger graphene nanoplatelets (xGnP M-5 and xGnP H-5) are superior to the smaller one (xGnP C-750) by guaranteeing enhanced sliding action between the tool grain and the CFRP composite. Full article

Moisture strongly affects the quality and mechanical specificity of carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) when using lubrication fluids during machining, and the significant impact of the cutting tool geometry and cryogenic gas cooling on CFRP machining capabilities are observed. The main body of this paper aims at making decisions about the optimum parameter of the drilling process while machining on CFRP base on the grey relational coefficient embed to the technique for order of preference by similarity to an ideal solution (Grey-TOPSIS). The entropy method was used to determine the weight of decision-making for handling a multiple measure decision-making response. The twist angle of the tool drill, lubrication, and feed rate were used as the input variables, and were analyzed while taking into account several multi-response outputs, such as the surface roughness, uncut fiber, and delamination. The result showed that a feed rate of 228 mm/min, the high-helix twist angle, and cryogenic CO₂ lubrication leads the calculated value to close the relative value, which minimizes the value of the surface roughness, the uncut fiber, and the delamination. Finally, verification of the valid effect of each parameter process was conducted using analysis of variance. The results indicated that the lubrication was the highest remarkable criterion on the uncut fiber, the delamination, and the surface roughness. By integrating the advantage of grey systems theory, and the technique for order preference by similarity to an ideal solution, to evaluate and optimize the machining parameter, the results indicate that the proposed model is useful to facilitate the multi-criteria decision-making problem under the environment of uncertainty and vagueness. This relatively advanced approach is very effectual in rejecting process variation and a great assistive strategy than other multi-criteria decision-making approaches. Full article

Carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (CFRPs) have very good mechanical properties, such as extremely high tensile strength/weight ratios, tensile modulus/weight ratios, and high strengths. CFRP composites need to be machined with a suitable cutting tool; otherwise, the machining quality may be reduced, and failures often occur. However, as a result of the high hardness and low thermal conductivity of CFRPs, the cutting tools used in the milling process of these materials complete their lifetime in a short cycle, due to especially abrasive wear and related failure mechanisms. As a result of tool wear, some problems, such as delamination, fiber breakage, uncut fiber and thermal damage, emerge in CFRP composite under working conditions. As one of the main failure mechanisms emerging in the milling of CFRPs, delamination is primarily affected by the cutting tool material and geometry, machining parameters, and the dynamic loads arising during the machining process. Dynamic loads can lead to the breakage and/or wear of cutting tools in the milling of difficult-to-machine CFRPs. The present research was carried out to understand the influence of different machining parameters on tool abrasion, and the work piece damage mechanisms during CFRP milling are experimentally investigated. For this purpose, cutting tests were carried out using a (Physical Vapor Deposition) PVD-coated single layer TiAlN and TiN carbide tool, and the abrasion behavior of the coated tool was investigated under dry machining. To understand the wear process, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) equipped with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) was used. As a result of the experiments, it was determined that the hard and abrasive structure of the carbon fibers caused flank wear on TiAlN- and TiN-coated cutting tools. The best machining parameters in terms of the delamination damage of the CFRP composite were obtained at high cutting speeds and low feed rates. It was found that the higher wear values were observed at the TiAlN-coated tool, at the feed rate of 0.05 mm/tooth. Full article

Alpine regions in northern China are the traditional animal husbandry base. The lack of high-quality forage supply resulting from degradation of natural grasslands and low forage production due to short growing seasons greatly restricts development of animal husbandry in these areas. Spring oats have been widely planted in cold regions worldwide harvesting as either grains or forages because of their great adaptative ability to low temperatures and early maturation and high nutritional values. To maximize forage and grain production, we developed a dual-purpose model for spring-sown oats in the cold regions of northeastern China using two oat species, Avena nuda L. (cv. Bayou6) and Avena. sativa L. (cv. Qinghai444). Growth, forage production and quality, grain yield, and re-growth ability of the two oats were investigated in field trials and field demonstration. Maximal dry weight was found to occur at 70 days of emergence for both oats with higher forage production and crude protein (CP) in Bayou6 than Qinghai444 oat species. Neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and acid detergent fiber (ADF) of the two oats increased with time during the early vegetative growing stage, while the relative feed value showed a decrease during vegetative growing stage. The re-growth ability following cutting for the two oats reduced with increasing growth times during vegetative stage. Plant height, tiller density, CP and NDF contents of re-growing seedlings harvested at 30–40 days of emergence did not significantly differ from those of un-cutting control. The overall cumulative dry weight of biomass following cutting at 30 days of emergence was significantly higher than that of control without cutting in both oat species. Seed yield from plots cut at 30 days of emergence for both oat species was insignificantly different from that of control plots. Harvesting of spring-sown oats at 30 days of emergence enhanced forage production, but it did not influence seed yield. Results from 2-year field demonstration confirmed these conclusions. These findings highlight that this dual-purpose oat management model can have great applications in the cold regions of China. Full article

Carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (CFRP) are widely used in the aerospace industry. A new generation of aircraft is being built using CFRP for up to 50% of their total weight, to achieve higher performance. Exit delamination and surface integrity are significant challenges reported during conventional drilling. Exit delamination influences the mechanical properties of machined parts and, consequently, reduces fatigue life. Vibration-assisted drilling (VAD) has much potential to overcome these challenges. This study is aimed at investigating exit delamination and geometrical accuracy during VAD at both low- and high-frequency ranges. The kinematics of VAD are used to investigate the relationship between the input parameters (cutting speed, feed, vibration frequency, and amplitude) and the uncut chip thickness. Exit delamination and geometrical accuracy are then evaluated in terms of mechanical and thermal load. The results show a 31% reduction in cutting temperature, as well as a significant enhancement in exit delamination, by using the VAD technology. Full article