Modeling of dynamic milling forces considering the interlaminar effect during milling multidirectional CFRP laminate

The milling process is always required to achieve dimensional tolerance for the near-net-shape carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) parts. However, delamination and cracking are inevitably induced in milling CFRP due to the excessive milling forces. The milling forces should be thereby well controlled to reduce damages of CFRP parts. Developing a theoretical milling force model is an effective approach to understand the mechanism of milling force generation. Recent studies have established the predictive models; however, the interlaminar effect impacting the material removal process is not considered during milling multidirectional CFRP laminate, limiting the predictive model accuracy. In this work, a model of dynamic milling force for multidirectional CFRP laminate was developed by considering the interlaminar effect for the first time. The specific cutting energy predicted by the artificial neural network methodology was employed to calculate the milling forces during milling a single CFRP layer. Meantime, the support of the layer was enhanced due to the interlaminar effect, and the correction coefficients for each type of support were proposed to reflect the role of this effect. Then, the overall milling forces for multidirectional CFRP laminate can be obtained via the superposition principle, which agreed well with the experimentally measured results.