Abstract
The near infrared (NIR) laser drilling of a carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) composite in the continuous wave (CW) mode and the ms pulse mode was investigated by an experiment and a numerical simulation. The relationships between the laser penetrating time, entrance hole diameter, surface heat affected zone (HAZ) width, and material ablation rate and the laser irradiation time and laser peak power densities were obtained from the experiment. For the same average power density of the laser output, 3.5 kW/cm2, it was found that the ms pulse laser mode, which had a higher peak power density, had a higher drilling efficiency. When drilling the same holes, the pulse laser mode, which had the highest peak power density of 49.8 kW/cm2, had the lowest drilling time of 0.23 s and had the smallest surface HAZ width of 0.54 mm. In addition, it was found that the laser penetrating time decreased sharply when the peak power density was higher than 23.4 kW/cm2. After analyzing the internal gas pressure by the numerical simulation, it was considered that a large internal gas pressure appeared, which resulted from polymer pyrolysis, causing a large amount of the mechanical erosion of the composite material to improve the drilling efficiency. Therefore, the ms pulse laser showed its potential and advantage in laser drilling the CFRP composite.
Highlights
Fiber-reinforced polymer composite materials are used for engineering applications where toughness, durability, corrosion resistance, abrasion resistance, and thermal stability are needed.In particular, carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites with superior structural capabilities are lightweight and have been widely used, in the aerospace and automotive industries.the conventional machining of CFRPs results in high tool wear and short tool life, which, in turn, produces high costs, as well as machining quality issues [1,2]
The results showed that the near infrared (NIR) lasers of the continuous wave (CW) mode and the ms pulse mode had great potential advantages in reducing laser processing time
We investigated the performance of the 1080 nm fiber laser drilling of a carbon fiber/epoxy composite in CW mode and in ms pulse modes with an experiment and with a numerical simulation
Summary
Fiber-reinforced polymer composite materials are used for engineering applications where toughness, durability, corrosion resistance, abrasion resistance, and thermal stability are needed.In particular, carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites with superior structural capabilities are lightweight and have been widely used, in the aerospace and automotive industries.the conventional machining of CFRPs results in high tool wear and short tool life, which, in turn, produces high costs, as well as machining quality issues [1,2]. Fiber-reinforced polymer composite materials are used for engineering applications where toughness, durability, corrosion resistance, abrasion resistance, and thermal stability are needed. Carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites with superior structural capabilities are lightweight and have been widely used, in the aerospace and automotive industries. The conventional machining of CFRPs results in high tool wear and short tool life, which, in turn, produces high costs, as well as machining quality issues [1,2]. As non-contact, fast, precise, and flexible tools, have been successfully used for the processing of both metallic and non-metallic materials. The thermal loading from the near infrared (NIR) laser processing of CFRPs may be a major concern with potential industrial users due to the anisotropic and heterogeneous properties of CFRPs. Polymers 2020, 12, 706; doi:10.3390/polym12030706 www.mdpi.com/journal/polymers
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