Int J Adv Manuf Technol
DOI 10.1007/s00170-015-7284-y
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Cryogenic cooling-induced process performance and surface
integrity in drilling CFRP composite material
T. Xia 1 & Y. Kaynak 2 & C. Arvin 1 & I. S. Jawahir 1
Received: 6 February 2015 / Accepted: 4 May 2015
# Springer-Verlag London 2015
Abstract There has been a substantial growth in using carbon
fiber-reinforced plastic (CFRP) composite materials in aero-
space and automotive industries due to their superior proper-
ties. This experimental study presents results from a compre-
hensive and systematic study investigating the effects of cryo-
genic cooling on drilling performance and surface integrity
characteristics of CFRP composite material. Experimental da-
ta on cutting edge radius of drill bit, outer corner wear of drill
bit, trust force, torque, delamination factor, and surface integ-
rity characteristics, including borehole subsurface damage and
diameter error of drilled hole, are presented and analyzed
comparing dry drilling with cryogenic cooling of CFRP com-
posite material. The findings demonstrate that cryogenic
cooling has a profound effect on reducing the cutting edge
rounding of drill bit and outer corner wear; it also helps en-
hancing the surface integrity characteristics of produced hole.
However, cryogenic cooling generates larger thrust force,
torque, and thus larger delamination factor.
Keywords Cryogenic cooling . Drilling . CFRP composite .
Tool-wear . Surface integrity
* Y. Kaynak
yusuf_kaynak@yahoo.com; yusuf.kaynak@marmara.edu.tr
1
Institute for Sustainable Manufacturing (ISM), University of
Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506, USA
2
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Technology,
Marmara University, Goztepe Campus,
Kadikoy 34722 Istanbul, Turkey
1 Introduction
Over the years, increased interest in using various composite
materials in different industries, particularly in aerospace and
automotive industries, has resulted in increased demand on
investigating the material processing methods used for fabri-
cating components made of composite materials. Among con-
ventional machining processes, drilling is the one that needed
more attention due to the fact that it is one of the most widely
conducted processing operations to produce holes on compos-
ite materials. For this reason, it is possible to find a large
number of published data focusing on drilling processes of
various composites, particularly carbon fiber-reinforced plas-
tic (CFRP) composites.
According to the literature, delamination is a major prob-
lem in manufacturing the components/parts and assembly in
composite materials, and drilling is the most commonly used
manufacturing process which is affected due to anisotropy and
non-homogeneity of composite material [1]. It was also noted
that tool-wear, high trust force, and torque that eventually
affect the quality of produced hole are also considered as
issues that need to be addressed [2–5]. In the literature, various
cutting speeds [6], feed rate [3, 7], drill bit geometries [8–11],
tool coatings [12, 13], and tool materials [14, 7] have been
proposed to minimize delamination in drilling of CFRP com-
posite materials. Although it was reported that a majority of
studies presented in the literature did not use any coolant and
lubrication during drilling of CFRP composites [15], a few
studies reported the positive effects of cooling and lubrication
such as flood cooling [16] and MQL on drilling performance
of this particular work material [17, 18].
In addition to being an environmentally friendly process,
cryogenic machining profoundly contributes to improving the

functional performance of machined components through its
superior and more desirable surface integrity characteristics
[19]. Besides, the effects of cryogenic cooling on machining
performance measures such as tool-wear, cutting temperature,
force components, and friction were studied extensively for
various work materials such as Inconel 718 [20–22], Ti-6Al-
4V [23], various steels [24, 25], and shape memory alloys [26].
However, our literature review shows that only a few studies
focused on cryogenic cooling-induced drilling of composite
materials, but not particularly CFRP composite. Bhattacharyya
and Horrigan [27] investigated the drilling process of compos-
ites under cryogenic conditions. They externally applied liquid
nitrogen when drilling Kevlar composites. They reported that
tool performance and workpiece quality improved by cryogen-
ic cooling. But, they also reported that the thrust force and the
torque are higher under cryogenic conditions as compared to
dry conditions. Ahmed [28] investigated the machinability of a
Kevlar fiber-reinforced composite material in drilling using liq-
uid nitrogen. Workpiece material was cooled down by the ap-
plication of liquid nitrogen directly on it, and then allowed to
warm up to the desired temperature. He observed that both the
thrust force and the torque increased remarkably as the laminate
temperature decreased. This was explained as the stiffness and
strength of the fiber and resins both rising under lower temper-
ature. He also reported that hole quality in terms of delamina-
tion factor was found to improve significantly due to the differ-
ence of thermal expansion coefficient, which created a com-
pressive stress on the fiber [28].
It is obvious that the published literature provides inad-
equate data to understand the effects of cryogenic cooling
on drilling of CFRP composites. Even the available data on
drilling of different composites using cryogenic cooling is
insufficient. This argument is well supported by a literature
review on cryogenic machining of composites in which the
authors concluded that cryogenic machining of composite
materials still remains an under-explored topic in compari-
son with various kinds of steels and advanced engineering
materials [29].
Fig. 1 a Experimental setup., b
measuring diameter of hole using CFRP
CMM, and c drill edge radius composite
measurement using ZYGO 3D workpiece
white light laser interferometer
LN2
Drill bit
Dynamometer
(a)
Int J Adv Manuf Technol
Considering the available limited literature on online cryo-
genic cooling-induced drilling performance of composite ma-
terials, to the best of authors’ knowledge, the current work is
one of the first systematic studies launched for investigating
the effects of cryogenic cooling-induced drilling performance
and surface integrity of CFRP composites by focusing on
various outputs such as tool-wear, thrust forces, torque, de-
lamination, hole diameter, subsurface damage, etc. Thus, this
study is aimed at providing a deeper insight into the interrela-
tionships between cryogenic cooling and achieved perfor-
mance in drilling of CFRP composites.
2 Experimental procedure
2.1 Work material
The carbon fiber-reinforced plastics material used in this study
was a balanced quasi-isotropic layup utilizing in a 2×2 twill
pattern woven CFRP laminates material. The lay-up of the
woven laminates was oriented as standard 0°/ +45°/ 90° /
−45° directions. The fiber volume fraction of the CFRP ma-
terial is about 0.6. The dimensions of carbon fiber-reinforced
plastic block specimen were approximately 20 mm×20 mm×
18 mm.
2.2 Drilling process, cryogenic coolant delivery,
and measurements
A HAAS VF-0 CNC Vertical Machining Center with 20 HP
vector spindle drive, with maximum spindle speed 7500 rpm,
was used in drilling experiments conducted in this study. A
photograph of the experimental setup is shown in Fig. 1a.
Sandvik CoroDrill 860 drill bit was used in this study. A fresh
drill was used for each test run. This uncoated carbide drill is a
conventional twist drill with two flutes and a diameter of
9.92 mm. The point angle of this drill is 130°. It also features
two coolant supply holes to allow coolant flow through.
(b) (c)
Int J Adv Manuf Technol
Cutting parameters were selected based on the previous work
by other researchers [30]. A constant cutting speed, V = 60 m/
min, and two different feed rates, f = 0.025 and 0.05 mm/rev,
were selected based on prior work [30] and cutting tool man-
ufacturer’s recommendation. Drilling tests were performed
under dry and cryogenic cooling conditions. For technical
reasons, in order to supply the liquid nitrogen internally
through the coolant holes in drills, it was necessary to perform
the drilling test with an upside down setup with rotating
composite specimen and a fixed drill bit. This inverted
drilling setup is shown in Fig. 1a. The dynamometer was
placed on the bed of the machine in order to record thrust
force and torque. The workpiece rotated while drill bit was
placed steady on the milling center during the drilling pro-
cess. Liquid nitrogen (LN2) was used as cryogenic cooling.
The details of the cryogenic cooling system utilized in this
series of experiments are presented elsewhere [19].
Before conducting drilling tests, the cutting edge radius
of all new drill bits was measured using a non-contact laser
interferometry optical profiler ZYGO 3D-New View 7300,
as shown in Fig. 1c. Edge radius of drill bits was consistent
and is approximately 18 μm. Thrust force and torque were
measured with a Kistler Type 9272 4-component dyna-
mometer, high insulation connecting cable, and two Type
5011A charge amplifiers. Hole diameter was measured
using TESA Micro-Hite 3D coordinate measuring machine
(CMM), as shown in Fig. 1b. Subsurface quality was inves-
tigated by analyzing micrographs in cross-sectional areas
using Nikon EPIPHOT 300 inverted Metallurgical Micro-
scope shown with objective lenses ranging from ×2.5 to
×50. In this study, as a part of tool-wear analysis, rounding
of edge radius of drill bit as a function of number of hole
drilled was investigated. Figure 2a, and b schematically
shows cutting edge rounding [12].
Changes of edge radius resulting from smooth wear on the
edge were systematically measured using the ZYGO 3D-New
(a)
(b)
Fig. 2 Cutting edge rounding: (a) Sharp cutting edge, (b) blunt smoothly worn, rounded cutting edge [12], (c) typical oblique plots of measured edge of
drill bits obtained with ZYGO 3D measuring equipment
View 7300 equipment, as shown in Fig. 2c. Outer corner wear
of drill bits was also examined, induced from the number of
drilled holes by following the measuring procedure presented
by Harris et al. [31], where the length of wear land on the
margin was considered, as shown in Fig. 3. A Nikon
EPIPHOT 300 inverted Metallurgical Microscope with objec-
tive lenses ranging from ×2.5 to ×50 was used to measure
outer corner wear land.
In order to evaluate the extent of the delamination damage,
a term called “delamination factor” was used. Delamination
factor (Fd) is formulated as follows [12],
Dmax
Fd ¼ ð1Þ
D0
where Dmax is the maximum diameter of the damaged zone
and D0 is the hole diameter—see Fig. 4.
3 Results and discussion
3.1 Effects of cryogenic cooling on tool-wear in drilling
of CFRP material
Measured cutting edge radius of drill bits used in drilling of
CFRP composite under dry and cryogenic cooling conditions
is shown in Fig. 5. The effect of cooling on keeping sharpness
of cutting edge radius of drill bit is obvious. Cryogenic
cooling substantially reduces rounding of cutting edges of drill
bit as compared dry condition. It should also be noted that
progression of rounding of drill bit is much slower throughout
the duration of producing 50 holes in cryogenic condition in
comparison with dry condition. While edge radius of drill bit
used in dry drilling operation was approximately 47 μm after
producing 50 holes, it was approximately 31 μm in cryogenic
(c)

(a)
Fig. 3 a Schematic representation of the method followed for measuring the outer corner wear [31], b new cutting tool’s margin
cooling-assisted drilling operation at higher feed rate value,
f = 0.05 mm/rev. On the other hand, the effect of feed rate on
the change of cutting edge radius is limited as compared to the
effects of cooling. Compared to the results obtained at lower
feed rate, the higher feed rate resulted in approximately 10 %
increase in cutting edge radius in both drilling conditions, dry
and cryogenic cooling.
Slower progression of cutting edge rounding with cryogen-
ic cooling is mainly due to the ability of liquid nitrogen to
substantially reduce the cutting temperature by removing gen-
erated heat resulting from friction between the cutting tool and
the work material. Indeed, the findings in this study show
good agreement with cryogenic machining of various engi-
neering materials where it was reported that using liquid ni-
trogen helps to reduce the progression of tool-wear as com-
pared to dry machining [26, 32].
The abrasive nature of composite materials leads to
shorter tool-life in drilling process [1], and this is not a
desired output from drilling operation as it affects the
cost of operation and also alters the dimensional accu-
racy and the quality of drilled holes. Less rounding over
the increased number of drilled holes indicates slow
progression of drill bit’s wear which is vital for produc-
ing high-accuracy holes and reduced delamination. From
this perspective, the use of cryogenic cooling in the
drilling process of CFRP composites seems helpful.
In addition to examining the cutting edge rounding, outer
corner wear is also needed to be examined and controlled, as
its occurring would lead to a change in the diameter of pro-
duced hole and burr formation. Figure 6 shows the compari-
son of wear rate of outer corner of drill bits after producing 50
holes in dry and cryogenic cooling conditions. There is a large
difference between the progression of outer corner wear of
drill bits used in dry and cryogenic cooling-assisted drilling
operations. While the length of outer corner wear of drill bit
used in dry condition is 496 μm, it was only 196 μm in cryo-
genic cooling condition after producing 50 holes. This indi-
cates that in drilling process, cryogenic cooling considerably
helps to reduce the wear occurring at the outer corner of the
drill bit, as compared to dry condition.
Int J Adv Manuf Technol
(b)
Figure 7 shows the progression of outer corner wear of drill
bits as a function of the number of drilled holes in dry and
cryogenic cooling-assisted drilling operations. Although the
initial wear at the outer corner of drilled bits used in dry and
cryogenic drilling operation seems to be relatively close to each
other, the cryogenic cooling provides much longer steady-state
wear progression after drilling 20 holes. This indicates that
utilizing liquid nitrogen profoundly alerts the drilling process
of CFRP composite materials, and thus protects the cutting tool
against rapid tool-wear. Consequently, this results in producing
holes within desired tolerances, which is one of the critical
requirements of drilling operations for composite materials.
When the role of feed rate is considered, increased feed rate
makes a notable difference and leads to increased rate of wear at
the outer corner in dry drilling operation, particularly after dril-
ling 30 holes. It should be noted that the effect of feed rate in
cryogenic drilling operation on the outer corner wear of drill bit
is not as large as in dry drilling operation.
According to the literature, excessive tool-wear is one of
the major problems in machining of composite materials [33].
It is also noted that to achieve the desired hole quality and to
extend tool-life, reducing wear of drill bit is required [2]. This
study demonstrates that cryogenic cooling is an effective way
Fig. 4 Demonstration of D0 and Dmax
Int J Adv Manuf Technol
Fig. 5 Progression of cutting
edge rounding as a function of the
number of drilled holes
53
Cutting Edge Radius (µm)
48
43
38
33
28
23
18
0 10
to reduce the progression of wear at different regions of drill
bit in drilling of CFRP composite materials.
3.2 Effects of cryogenic cooling on thrust force and torque
in drilling of CFRP material
In the drilling process, recording and examining thrust force
and torque is required to enable full understanding of the ob-
tained hole quality and the delamination issue. Although the
effects of some input variables such as feed rate and different
geometries of drill bit were well investigated and established
as mentioned in introduction section of the current study, the
role of drilling conditions such as cooling effects on thrust
force and torque is required for a systematic investigation.
The current study demonstrates that cryogenic cooling has
a large effect on thrust force in drilling CFRP composite ma-
terial, as shown in Fig. 8. While the recorded thrust force was
approximately 65 N in dry condition, cryogenic cooling pro-
duced approximately 162 N thrust force at 0.025 mm/rev feed
rate, indicating that cryogenic cooling generates more than
double thrust force values compared to dry condition in dril-
ling of CFRP composite. When the feed rate is increased to
Fig. 6 Outer corner wear of drill
bits after producing 50 holes (V =
60 m/min; f = 0.05 mm/rev)
The length of outer corner wear = 496 µm
Dry (f = 0.025 mm/rev) Cryogenic (f = 0.025 mm/rev)
Dry (f = 0.05 mm/rev) Cryogenic (f = 0.05 mm/rev)
20 30 40 50
Number of drilled holes
0.05 mm/rev, there is still a large difference in terms of record-
ed thrust force between dry and cryogenic cooling conditions,
but the difference is not as large as it was in lower feed rate, as
shown in Fig. 8.
The influence of cryogenic cooling on thrust force variation
over the number of drilled holes and its comparison with the
results obtained from dry drilling is presented in Fig. 9. Cryo-
genic drilling operation, compared to dry drilling operation,
produces longer steady-state thrust force over the duration of
producing 50 holes. While the recorded thrust force was ap-
proximately 207 N in cryogenic cooling condition, the record-
ed thrust force was approximately 118 N in dry condition after
producing 50 holes. Considering recorded forces in both con-
ditions the variation of thrust force between the first and last
hole was approximately 81 % in dry condition; it was approx-
imately 28 % in cryogenic cooling condition. This difference
is attributed to rapidly increased tool-wear resulting from dry
condition as compared to cryogenic cooling condition. It
should be noted that although the difference between dry
and cryogenic cooling conditions gets smaller in terms of
thrust force as the number of drilled holes increases, but even
reduced difference is still remarkable and indicates that dry
The length of outer corner wear = 196 µm
 Int J Adv Manuf Technol

Fig. 7 Progression of outer Dry (f = 0.025 mm/rev) Cryogenic (f = 0.025 mm/rev)

corner wear of drill bits as a
function of the number of drilled
Dry (f = 0.05 mm/rev) Cryogenic (f = 0.05 mm/rev)

Length of outer corner wear (µm)

holes 600
500
400
300
200
100
0
0 10 20 30 40 50
Number of drilled holes

drilling operation helped profoundly to reduce generated
thrust force in drilling of CFRP composite material as com-
pared to cryogenic drilling operation.
The results obtained from this experimental work correlate
well with the previously established relationship between
cryogenic cooling and force components in machining of nu-
merous work materials indicating that cryogenic cooling gen-
erally increases the forces in machining process as compared
to dry machining as it lowers the temperature of work material
[22]. Many engineering materials show much more resistance
to deformation at lower temperature than at higher tempera-
ture, and this is the main reason for generated higher forces in
the cryogenic machining process [22]. Indeed, previous stud-
ies reported that Young’s modulus and tensile strength of car-
bon fiber-reinforced composites increase as the temperature
decreases [34, 35]. Besides, it was also reported that thermo-
mechanical properties, such as transverse modulus, shear
modulus, transverse shear modulus, and transverse strength
were increased when the temperature was reduced [36]. In
addition, experimental setup itself might lead to further
increasing thrust force as liquid nitrogen was delivered inter-
nally to the cutting edge of the drill bit via its coolant holes.
After cooling the tool and workpiece, the liquid nitrogen con-
verts to gas, but with no outlet. There was some amount of
pressure built up inside the specimen, and it pushes drill bit,
which may further increase thrust force.
The torque results illustrated in Fig. 10 also show a similar
trend as was observed with the thrust force data. Cryogenic
cooling produces a larger torque in drilling of CFRP com-
posite at both feed rates in comparison with dry conditions.
As discussed previously, cooling effects of cryogenically
assisted drilling play a dominant role in determining the
value of generated torque. It should also be noted that in-
creased feed rate remarkably raises the torque in the drilling
process under both dry and cryogenic cooling conditions,
as shown in Fig. 10.
Figure 11 shows the variation of torque as a function of the
number of drilled holes in dry and cryogenically assisted dril-
ling operations. As the number of drilled holes increases, the
torque value recorded in dry and cryogenically assisted

Fig. 8 Recorded thrust force Dry Cryogenic

values in drilling at 60 m/min 300
cutting speed
250
Thrust Force (N)

200

150

100

50

0
f = 0.025 mm/rev f = 0.05 mm/rev
Int J Adv Manuf Technol

Fig. 9 Variation of thrust force as Cryogenic Dry

a function of the number of drilled 250
holes (V = 60 m/min; f =
0.025 mm/rev)

Max. Thrust Force (N)

200

150

100

50

0
1 4 7 10 13 16 19 22 25 28 31 34 37 40 43 46 49
Number of driled holes

drilling operation also increases. Variation of torque with
number of drilled holes observed in dry condition was approx-
imately 53 %; however, it was approximately 27 % in cryo-
genic condition. This indicates that the increasing torque is
induced from cutting edge rounding and outer wear progres-
sion. The reason for producing higher torque with cryogeni-
cally assisted drilling operation is the same as the reason for
producing higher thrust force discussed previously.
3.3 Effects of cryogenic cooling on delamination factor
in drilling of CFRP material
The importance of delamination factor in drilling of composite
materials has been discussed in detail in the literature, and the
effects of various input parameters such as feed rate, drill bit
geometry, cutting speed, etc., on delamination factor have
been studied extensively [1, 2]. This section of the current
paper presents the influence of cryogenic cooling on delami-
nation factor in drilling of CFRP composite material. Experi-
mental findings show that the effect of cryogenic cooling on
delamination factor is evident, as shown in Figs. 12 and 13.
Cryogenic cooling condition substantially increases the de-
lamination factor as compared to dry condition at lower and
higher feed rates, as shown in Figs. 12 and 13, respectively.
The variation of delamination factor at both feed rates under
dry and cryogenic cooling conditions as a function of the num-
ber of drilled holes provides two notable points that need to be
discussed in detail. The first one is the obtained trend consid-
ering delamination factor seems to be similar to the obtained
trends for thrust force and torque discussed in previous sec-
tions. As shown in Figs. 9 and 11, thrust force and torque,
respectively, were much larger in cryogenically assisted drilling
operation as compared to dry drilling operation.
This indicates that there is a reasonable relationship be-
tween thrust force and torque and delamination factor. This
fact has already been acknowledged in many prior studies
published in the literature and recommended optimizing input
variables to reduce thrust force, and in turn reducing delami-
nation in dry drilling of CFRP composites [2]. Also, this cur-
rent study provides data that shows the relationship between
thrust force and delamination factor validating it for cryogen-
ically assisted drilling operation. As the thrust force and torque

Fig. 10 Recorded torque values Dry Cryogenic

at 60 m/min cutting speed 0.4
0.35
0.3
Torque (N.m)

0.25
0.2
0.15
0.1
0.05
0
f = 0.025 mm/rev f = 0.05 mm/rev
 Int J Adv Manuf Technol

Fig. 11 Variation of thrust force Cryogenic Dry

as a function of the number of 0.35
drilled holes (V = 60 m/min; f =
0.025 mm/rev)

Max. Torque (N.m)

0.3

0.25

0.2

0.15

0.1
1 4 7 10 13 16 19 22 25 28 31 34 37 40 43 46 49
Number of drilled holes

increase, the delamination factor also increases in cryogenically-
assisted drilling of CFRP composite material. In order to reduce
the delamination factor resulting from cryogenically assisted
drilling operation, the thrust force needs to be reduced.
Another interesting observation from this delamination fac-
tor data is that while dry drilling shows continuously increas-
ing trend as the number of drilled holes increases, cryogenic
cooling produces a much more steady-state trend after produc-
ing about 25 holes at both feed rates. This finding is a reason-
able evidence to support the relationship between cutting edge
radius and outer corner wear and delamination factor as the
trend of cutting edge radius and outer corner wear obtained
from dry and cryogenically assisted drilling operations, pre-
sented in Figs. 5 and 7, respectively, shows a very similar
trend to delamination factor behavior as a function of number
of drilled holes, shown in Fig. 13. Delamination factor in-
creases rapidly in dry drilling process after around 20 holes;
however, in cryogenically assisted drilling operation, delami-
nation factor shows a much more steady state behavior after
around 20 holes at high feed rate. Both conditions showed
similar trends on the progression of outer corner wear of drill
bits, as shown in Fig. 7. These observed trends support the
argument that there is a strong relationship between the tool-
wear and the delamination. Taking the contribution of cryo-
genically assisted drilling operation on reducing wear at outer
corner and decreasing rounding of cutting edge into account, it
can be concluded that cryogenic cooling helps to reduce the
delamination factor to some extent by reducing the cutting
edge radius and outer corner wear; however, when its overall
contribution is compared to the contribution of dry drilling, it
seems that dry condition should be preferred for reducing the
delamination factor over the cryogenic cooling condition in
drilling of CFRP composite material. A merging trend is also
noted in Figs. 12 and 13 for the delamination factor at higher
number of holes drilled. Our experimental setup work was
however limited to only 50 holes. At the number of holes
beyond so, it is very likely that the cryogenic cooling in dril-
ling is much more favorable.

Fig. 12 Variation of Cryogenic Dry

delamination factor as a function 1.45
of the number of drilled holes (V=
60 m/min; f=0.025 mm/rev) 1.4
)

1.35
Delamination Factor (

1.3
1.25
1.2
1.15
1.1
1.05
1
1 4 7 10 13 16 19 22 25 28 31 34 37 40 43 46 49
Number of drilled holes
Int J Adv Manuf Technol

Fig. 13 Variation of Cryogenic Dry

1.55
delamination factor as a function
of the number of drilled holes 1.5
(V = 60 m/min; f = 0.05 mm/rev) 1.45

)
1.4

Delamination Factor (
1.35
1.3
1.25
1.2
1.15
1.1
1.05
1
1 4 7 10 13 16 19 22 25 28 31 34 37 40 43 46 49
Number of drilled holes

3.4 Effects of cryogenic cooling on surface integrity
characteristic in drilling of CFRP material
Enhancement of surface integrity characteristics of machined
components is a requirement for increasing reliability and
safety of components used particularly in aerospace industry
[37]. Surface integrity of drilled holes was characterized con-
sidering borehole subsurface damage and diameter of drilled
holes. The major objective of this study was to determine the
effects of cryogenic cooling on this characteristic in drilling of
CFRP composite material. Drilled boreholes were cut in
halves, and samples were prepared using cold mounting
methods as the heat of hot mounting method induces thermal
damage to the sample. Typical cross-section area observed is
shown in Fig. 14. The white part in the picture is carbon fiber;
the dark part is matrix material. As mentioned, the material in
this study is quasi-isotropic CFRP laminates, and there are
three different oriented layers in the images marked in
Fig. 14 as sections A, B, and C, which refer to the direction
of fiber 0, −45°/45°, and 90°, respectively.
Borehole surface layer of samples drilled at the cutting
speed of 60 m/min and feed rate of 0.05 mm/rev under cryo-
genic cooling and dry conditions are compared and shown in
Fig. 15. As seen, no surface cracks and other obvious damage
could be found in the sample drilled using cryogenic cooling.
It is obvious that fibers and matrix material were clearly and
smoothly cut throughout the material in cryogenically assisted
drilling. However, damages on the borehole surface of sample
drilled under dry condition were observed. There were
cracks down to a depth of more than 100 μm. Although
no matrix material melting was observed throughout the
hole, this was seen as a thermal damage occurring in
the dry drilling process.
As discussed in the previous section, cryogenic tempera-
ture alters the mechanical properties of CFRP composite ma-
terial, and effectively delivering liquid nitrogen through drill
bit’s coolant holes and, thus, reducing temperature in the cut-
ting region helped to eliminate thermal damage on borehole
surface during the drilling process. Besides, as the cryogenic
cooling keeps the sharpness of the cutting edge by reducing

Fig. 14 Cross section images of

cut sample Feed direction

Borehole surface

A B C
 Int J Adv Manuf Technol

Fig. 15 Cross-section image of 100 µm

samples drilled at f = 0.05 mm/rev
and V = 60 m/min under
Cryogenic
cryogenic cooling and dry
conditions

100 µm
Dry

the rounding of edge, this should also be helpful in generating
a much smoother surface throughout the generated holes. Re-
ducing damages throughout the interior surface of hole indi-
cates producing high-quality holes. This is also a considerable
contribution of cryogenic cooling as opposed to dry drilling of
CFRP composite material.
Produced hole diameter was also measured and considered
in evaluating the contribution of cryogenic cooling in drilling of
CFRP composite materials. The nominal hole size and devia-
tions obtained from 10th, 30th, and 50th holes produced under
dry and cryogenic cooling conditions are shown in Fig. 16. It is
obvious that cryogenically assisted drilling operations show a
much better performance compared to dry condition by sub-
stantially reducing the diameter errors and producing holes that
are much close to the nominal diameter of hole.
These measurements also show that the produced holes
except for one condition are oversized in both dry and
cryogenic cooling conditions. As similar trends were reported
in the literature, it was shown that oversized holes produced in
drilling CFRP composite material is most likely due to the
thermal expansion of the matrix from increased cutting tem-
peratures caused by the lack of lubricant/coolant access and
poor chip evacuation [16]. Indeed, our findings support this
argument found in the literature that oversizing is much larger
in dry drilling as compared with cryogenic cooling conditions.
Considering that producing holes with eliminated/reduced di-
ameter error, cryogenically assisted drilling of CFRP compos-
ite can be a preferred approach.
4 Conclusions
This study focuses on the effects of cryogenic cooling on drilling
of CFRP composite materials by considering tool-wear, thrust

Fig. 16 Measured diameter from Dry Cryogenic

entry, middle and exit of 10th, 10
30th, and 50th holes drilled under 9.99
dry and cryogenic cooling
Hole Diameter (mm)

conditions (V=60 m/min, f= 9.98

0.05 mm/rev) 9.97
9.96 Nominal hole
size (9.92 mm)
9.95
9.94
9.93
9.92
9.91
9.9
10th 30th 50th hole 10th 30th 50th hole 10th 30th 50th hole
Hole entry Middle of hole Hole exit
Int J Adv Manuf Technol
force, torque, delamination factor, borehole surface layer dam-
age, and hole diameter error. Obtained results from cryogenical-
ly assisted drilling of CFRP composite material were compared
with the results obtained from dry drilling operations. The fol-
lowing conclusions can be drawn from the present study:
– Cryogenic cooling profoundly helps to reduce rounding
of drill bit’s cutting edge and outer wear as compared to
dry condition.
– Cryogenic cooling produces a larger thrust force and
torque in drilling of CFRP composite material.
– Cryogenic cooling leads to increased delamination factor
in comparison with dry condition.
– Cryogenic cooling produces a much better borehole sur-
face and, thus, a much better hole quality as compared to
dry condition.
– Cryogenic cooling process provides a much more desired
output by substantially reducing the diameter error as
compared to dry drilling condition.
This study demonstrated that cryogenic cooling helps to
improve performance of drill bit in terms of wear, produces
better borehole surface, and reduces diameter error; however,
considering delamination, it does not show preferred perfor-
mance within the selected drilling parameters. Further inves-
tigation is recommended by considering a wider range of dril-
ling parameters and a larger number of drilled holes to explore
its role in drilling of CFRP composite material.
Ethical statements This manuscript has not been submitted to more
than one journal for simultaneous consideration. The manuscript has not
been published previously (partly or in full). A single study is not split up
into several parts to increase the quantity of submissions and submitted to
various journals or to one journal over time. No data have been fabricated
or manipulated (including images) to support our conclusions. No data,
text, or theories by others are presented as if they were our own. Consent
to submit has been received explicitly from all co-authors, as well as from
myself—tacitly or explicitly—at the institute/organization where the
work has been carried out. The authors whose names appear on the
submission have contributed sufficiently to the scientific work and there-
fore share collective responsibility and accountability for the results.
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