Grinding performance study of CF/epoxy and CF/PEEK composites

Abstract

Abstract In order to distinguish the grinding performance of the thermoset and thermoplastic carbon fiber‐reinforced plastic (CFRP) composites, carbon fiber‐reinforced epoxy resin (CF/epoxy) and carbon fiber‐reinforced poly‐ether‐ether‐ketone (CF/PEEK) composites were employed in this study. Different process parameters were set to grind the two materials. Then the surface morphologies and roughness of the workpieces with different process parameters were observed and measured. Experimental results indicated that the grinding forces were positively correlated with the grinding depth and feed speed, and negatively correlated with the wheel speed. The grinding depth was the main influencing factor of the maximum temperature of the grinding. The heat distribution of the grinding process was dependent on the fiber direction. In addition, the chip formation mechanism of CF/epoxy and CF/PEEK were investigated. Compared with CF/epoxy, the grinding forces and temperature were higher and the wheel was more prone to be clogged under the same grinding parameters, indicating that it was more difficult to process CF/PEEK. However, the surface quality of CF/PEEK with high ductility was much better than CF/epoxy.