Application of a novel woven metal wire tool with electrodeposited diamond grains for carbon fiber reinforced plastics core drilling

Abstract Drilling into carbon fiber-reinforced plastics (CFRP) with conventional tools often results in defects like delamination, fiber pull-out, etc. In order to achieve high-quality CFRP hole machining, we developed a new woven metal wire tool (WMW tool) based on core drilling, with electrodeposited diamond grains. Using this tool, we conducted 20-mm diameter core drilling on a CFRP plate with grinding fluid supplied from the inner side of the WMW tool at the grinding point. The new tool also removes chips easily. The method produced high-quality holes without delamination or burr at the entry or exit at a practical feed rate of 100 and 300 mm/min. Although wear was observed on the tip of the wire mesh, new diamond grains appeared at the tip, so that the tool exhibited a self-sharpening effect. The newly developed MWM tool achieved a drastic reduction of chips and superior machined surface at the same time in CFRP drilling.