Experimental investigation of CFRP cutting with nanosecond laser under air and Ar gas ambience

摘要

A carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) is widely used for automobile, aircraft and so on, because of having high strength, lightweight and weather resistance. A laser is one of useful tools for cutting CFRP. However, a matrix evaporated zone (MEZ) is formed around the laser irradiation area since heat property of the resin is different from that of carbon fiber. It is required for optimizing the laser processing condition to minimize the MEZ. In our experiment, the CFRP plate was cut with a nanosecond laser under air and Ar gas ambience. The ambient gas is an important factor for reduction of MEZ since formation of MEZ might be caused due to an oxidization of carbon fiber and epoxy resin. In order to evaluate the oxidization, spectroscopic analysis was carried out to investigate an ablation plume under air and Ar gas. Furthermore, a surface on CFRP plate was observed with a scanning electron microscope (SEM). As the results, the cutting quality for argon is better than that for air, and the MEZ for Ar gas is smaller than than that for air.