Experimental studies on hole quality and machinability characteristics in drilling of unreinforced and reinforced polyamides

In this study, experimental studies on hole quality and machinability in drilling of unreinforced polyamide (PA6) and reinforced polyamide with 30% of glass fibers (PA66-GF30) using cemented carbide (K20) tool have been carried out. The experiments have been planned as per full factorial design of experiments. The effects of spindle speed, feed rate, and point angle on hole quality such as hole diameter and circularity error; the machinability characteristics such as thrust force and specific cutting coefficient have been analyzed by developing response surface methodology based second-order mathematical models. The parametric analysis shows that the quality of holes can be improved by proper selection of cutting parameters. The analysis also indicates the influence of reinforced fiber on proposed machinability characteristics during drilling of polyamides.