Investigation into the feasibilty of laser cutting CFRP and GFRP

Abstract

The aerospace industry is coming under increasing pressure from both government and environmental agencies to reduce the carbon foot print of the aerospace sector. Frame manufacturers such as Airbus and Boeing are investigating the possibility of increasing the use of new lightweight materials such as Carbon Fibre-Reinforced Plastics (CFRP) and Glass Fibre-Reinforced Plastics (GFRP). These new materials are usually treated like metals and are machined using traditional machining techniques. Water jet has been used by some aerospace companies but there is still resistance to water jet becoming the preferred cutting method.This paper investigates the possibility of using laser material processing techniques for machining aerospace composites. The JK200FL fibre laser system was used in this initial investigation of the laser material processing characteristics of CFRP and GFRP. The aerospace industry is only now beginning to understand the potential of fibre lasers to machine the new lightweight composite materials.The aerospace industry is coming under increasing pressure from both government and environmental agencies to reduce the carbon foot print of the aerospace sector. Frame manufacturers such as Airbus and Boeing are investigating the possibility of increasing the use of new lightweight materials such as Carbon Fibre-Reinforced Plastics (CFRP) and Glass Fibre-Reinforced Plastics (GFRP). These new materials are usually treated like metals and are machined using traditional machining techniques. Water jet has been used by some aerospace companies but there is still resistance to water jet becoming the preferred cutting method.This paper investigates the possibility of using laser material processing techniques for machining aerospace composites. The JK200FL fibre laser system was used in this initial investigation of the laser material processing characteristics of CFRP and GFRP. The aerospace industry is only now beginning to understand the potential of fibre lasers to machine the new lightweight composite ma...