EDM AND AWJ EDGE FINISHING ON SURFACE MORPHOLOGY OF HYBRID COMPOSITE LAMINATES

摘要

Hybrid titanium laminate is a high strength-light weight material that possesses great potential for high speed and elevated temperature aerospace structural applications. In this research, series of cuts were made on multi-layers hybrid titanium laminates using die sinker electrical discharge machining (EDM) and abrasive waterjet (AWJ) machining processes. It was found that for EDM machining, low power setting resulted in slow cutting rate and smoother surface was achieved. High power EDM cut cause severe melting and rough surface finish. Both EDM conditions generate thermal cracks and heat damages which are detrimental to load bearing capability and fatigue performance. AWJ cuts were impressively faster and machined surfaces were relatively smoother than die sinker EDM. Based on extensive optical and scanning microscopic examination of machined surfaces, it is concluded that AWJ is the preferred method to cut hybrid titanium laminate due to faster cut, smaller damage in contrast to EDM process.