Experimental study on robot laser and side-milling compound technology for drilling of CFRP/TC4 laminated stacks

Aiming at the problems of low efficiency and serious tool wear in the drilling large hole for aviation large and complex carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP)/titanium alloy (TC4) laminated stacks, a new process of robot laser and side-milling compound drilling is proposed, which has the advantages of high surface quality, high precision of geometry and high efficiency. laser and side-milling compound drilling experiment of CFRP/TC4 laminated stacks was carried out, and the effect of process parameters on the processing quality was explored. A Ø15 mm high precision hole was drilled on an 8mm CFRP/TC4 laminated stacks. Experimental results show that laser-induced heat affected zone (HAZ) can greatly reduce the cutting force during the milling process, the average cutting force of CFRP is reduced by 60.8%, and the average cutting force of TC4 is reduced by 66.2%. The introduction of minimal quantity lubrication (MQL) can greatly improve the surface quality. The surface roughness (Sa) of CFRP and TC4 decreasing by 36.1% and 36.8%, respectively, compared with dry cutting, and both remaining below 3.2 μm. The minimum interlayer burrs of CFRP and TC4 are 26.734 μm and 60.802 μm respectively.