Study on UV Laser Cutting Carbon Fibre Reinforced Composites

Obtaining narrower kerf and smaller heat affected zone (HAZ) is a difficulty in laser cutting carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) composites. In order to solve this problem, the experiments used a semiconductor UV laser to cut CFRP have been done and how laser parameters (include pulse power, repetition frequency, cutting speed and direction) influent the width and HAZ of kerf have been achieved. In the meantime, compared with infrared laser cutting CFRP, the quality of CFRP cut by different wavelength laser has been investigated. The results show that owing to CFRP has the characteristic of anisotropy, laser cutting direction is the most significant factor that affects the quality of kerf cut by UV laser. The study also found that owing to high single photon energy, the narrower kerf and smaller HAZ around kerf can be get by UV laser cutting CFRP, nevertheless, it can’t be achieved by infrared laser cutting CFRP.