Drilling on fiber reinforced polymer/nanopolymer composite laminates: a review

Among various machining operations, drilling is the most commonly employed machining operation for polymer composite laminates owing to the need for joining structures. Work with commercial composites has identified numerous parameters during the drilling operation that can influence the drilling factors and the material damage. The present paper gives a precise review of drilling on current state of fiber reinforced polymer as well as nanopolymer composite laminates. Specifically, the influence of machining parameters, tool geometry, tool materials and tool types on the cutting force generation and delamination mechanisms. Based on the comprehensive literature survey from the past few years, it is noticed that limited research has been made and published concerning to nanopolymer composite drilling and has led to a partial understanding of the cutting mechanics activated in machining/drilling. Some key contributions such as experimental and numerical studies are urgently demanded to address accurately various projections in drilling of nano-particle reinforced FRP composite laminates.