Experimental Investigation of the Machinability of Basalt Fiber Reinforced Epoxy Matrix Composites and the Effect of Nanoparticle Additives on Machining Quality

In this study, basalt fiber-reinforced epoxy matrix composite materials were produced using hand lay-up and vacuum infusion methods, both in their unreinforced form and with the addition of 0.25 wt% multi-wallet carbon nanotube (MWCNT) and 0.5 wt% hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) nanoparticles.Additionally, hybrid basalt fiber-reinforced epoxy matrix composites were manufactured by keeping the MWCNT content constant at 0.25 wt% while varying the h-BN reinforcement levels to 0.25 wt%, 0.5 wt%, and 0.75 wt%.The effects of nanoparticle reinforcement, cutting speed, and feed rate on parameters such as cutting force, delamination, and average surface roughness (Ra) during drilling processes were investigated.Among the cutting forces observed, the lowest thrust forces during drilling were achieved for all samples at a feed rate of 300 mm/min and a spindle speed of 4800 rpm.When comparing reinforcement levels, the lowest cutting force values were obtained in sample N5, which contained the highest h-BN nanoparticle reinforcement.In terms of surface roughness, the lowest value of 0.95 m was achieved for sample N5 at a feed rate of 300 mm/min and a spindle speed of 4800 rpm during the drilling process.Regarding delamination, it was observed that increasing h-BN content, combined with low feed rates and high spindle speeds, reduced delamination damage in drilling processes