Product Code: ICA13_1902

Dependence of Cutting Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastics with nanosecond Laser On The Laser Wavelength and Oxygen Concentration of the Air.
Authors:
Shin-Ichiro Masuno, Osaka Univ.; Ibaraki,Osaka Pref. Japan
Kenjiro Takahashi, Osaka Univ.; Ibaraki, Osaka Japan
Yuji Sato, Osaka Univ.; Ibaraki, Osaka Japan
Masahiro Tsukamoto, Osaka Univ.; Ibaraki, Osaka Japan
Kazuya Miyagawa, Osaka Univ.; Ibaraki, Osaka Japan
Kazuki Nakai, Osaka Univ.; Ibaraki, Osaka Japan
Tatsuya Nariyama, Kinki Univ.; Higashiosaka, Osaka Japan
Presented at ICALEO 2013

Carbon fiber reinforced plastic(CFRP) is complex material made of carbon fibers and matrices of thermoplastics or thermosetting plastics. Since specific strength of CFRP is about ten times as high as that of steels, CFRP is attractive in the automotive industry and the aviation.
Cutting and drilling of CFRP decrease strength of it, depending on the laser machining shape, since cut fibers cause stress concentration. It is important to cut in a smooth curve and to reduce heat affected zone(HAZ), which is the matrix damage caused by the heat load of the material, in order to reduce stress concentration on laser cut CFRP.
In this study CFRP was cut by means of the 40 ns laser with repetition rate of 10 kHz with the aim to high speed cutting. In order to evaluate HAZ, the cut surfaces of CFRP were observed. The differences of the cut surfaces of CFRP and the processing rate in wavelength (1064 nm or 532 nm) of the lasers and oxygen concentration when the laser cut were investigated.