Product Code: ICAL07_1405

Parametric Study on CO2 Laser Cutting of Carbon Fibre Reinforced Plastic Composite
Authors:
Antonio Riveiro, Universidade de Vigo; Vigo Spain
Blas Gómez, Universidade de Vigo; Vigo Spain
Félix Quintero, Universidade de Vigo; Vigo Spain
Fernando Lusquiños, Universidade de Vigo; Vigo Spain
Juan Pou, Universidade de Vigo; Vigo Spain
Rafael Comesaña, Universidade de Vigo; Vigo Spain
Presented at ICALEO 2007

Carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP) composites have significant properties such as high specific strength, specific stiffness and easy of tailoring to a particular application, which made them very attractive for structural applications, especially for aeronautics.
In this work, a study on the possibilities of a high quality CO2 laser is presented. Plates of CFRP 3 mm thick were cut by means of a 3.5 kW CO2 slab laser. The influence on the cut quality of different processing parameters such as cutting speed, pulse repetition rate, energy per pulse, average power, and assist gas pressure was studied. The quality of the cuts was evaluated in terms of kerf width, angle of cut kerf, delaminating degree, and extension of the heat affected zone. An adequate selection of the values of the processing parameters allows obtaining good quality cuts.