Comparison of Different Parameters to Evaluate Delamination in Edge Trimming of Basalt Fiber Reinforced Plastics (BFRP)

Delamination is one of the main problems that occur when machining fiber-reinforced composite materials. In this work, Types I and II of delamination are studied separately in edge trimming of basalt fiber reinforced plastic (BFRP). For this purpose, one-dimensional and area delamination parameters are defined. One-dimensional parameters (Wa and Wb) allow to know average fibers length while the analysis of area delamination parameters (Sd) allow to evaluate delamination density. To study delamination, different tests are carried out modifying cutting parameters (cutting speed, feed per tooth and depth of cut) and material characteristics (fiber volume fraction and fiber orientation). Laminates with a lower fiber volume fraction do not present delamination. Attending to one-dimensional parameters it can be concluded that Type II delamination is more important than Type I and that a high depth of cut generates higher values of delamination parameters. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) is performed to study area parameters. Although delamination has a random nature, for each depth of cut, more influence variables in area delamination are firstly, feed per tooth and secondly, cutting speed.