Engineering Commons^™

Machining Of Composite Materials. Part I: Traditional Methods, Serge Abrate, D. A. Walton

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Composite materials are more difficult to machine than metals mainly because they are anisotropic, non-homogeneous and their reinforcing fibers are very abrasive. During machining, defects are introduced into the workpiece, and tools wear rapidly. Traditional machining techniques such as drilling or sawing can be used with proper tool design and operating conditions. A review of traditional machining methods applied to organic and metal matrix composites is presented in this article. The use of non-traditional machining methods such as waterjet, laser and ultrasonic machining will be discussed in the second part. © 1992.