Application of design of experiments in the optimization of CFRC drilling process

The rapid technological development in materials division of Industrial sector, has created curiosity among research community to develop innovative materials with the specified characteristics. One such material is Carbon Fibre Reinforced Carbon (CFRC) composite material, which is used mostly in the fabrication of advanced structures like space shuttles, battle field tanks, missiles etc. Generally these composites are very expensive and the addition of drilling cost of these materials makes them still expensive. Hence, careful selection of proper drilling parameters is required to machine these special composites. The prime objective of this paper is to investigate experimentally to determine the optimal drilling parameters by using GRA method. The drilling experiments were carried out on a CFRC composite plate with TiN coated carbide tool on the computer numerically controlled drilling machine.