An investigation into the impact of graphene nanoplatelets reinforced with glass fiber reinforced polymer composite on the hole quality using abrasive water jet drilling
Raju Kumar Thakur, Kalyan Kumar Singh
Abstract
Abstract Glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) composites are being increasingly used in various industries owing to their low cost, lightweight, and impressive mechanical properties. For the present study, composites were fabricated with various weight percentages of graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs), i.e., 0, 0.125, 0.25, 0.375, and 0.5 wt%, which were mixed with epoxy resin of GFRP. Characteristics such as flexural strength, interlaminar shear strength (ILSS), and tensile strength of the prepared composites were tested, which established that reinforcement of 0.25 wt% of GNPs ensures optimum properties in the composite. The GNPs, loaded with 0.375 and 0.5 wt% agglomerated, on the other hand, showed interface‐governed failure. The influence of machining factors, such as wt% of GNPs, jet pressure, and traverse rate, were also studied to assess the hole quality of the composite samples, machined by abrasive water jet (AWJ). Subsequently, machining characteristics of the GNPs loaded GFRP composites are explored in detail using AWJ drilling in terms of surface roughness ( R a ), kerf angle (KA), and entry and exit delamination factor (DF). The AWJ machining outcomes demonstrated that the incorporation of GNPs significantly influences the machining response of the composites. The R a , KA, entry, and exit DF of composite laminates reduce with advancement in GNPs loadings. In addition, the surface of the drilled holes was characterized using FESEM analysis.