Product Code: ICA11_1201

Investigations in Remote Cutting of Carbon Fiber Composite Materials
Authors:
Annett Klotzbach, Fraunhofer Institute Material and Beam Technology; Dresden Germany
Pierpaolo Vessio, Politecnico Di Bari; Bari Italy
Udo Klotzbach, Fraunhofer Institute Material and Beam Technology; Dresden Germany
Jan Hauptmann, Fraunhofer Institute Material and Beam Technology; Dresden Germany
Presented at ICALEO 2011

Carbon fiber reinforced polymers (CFRP) are applied more and more in the aircraft industry as well as the automobile industry. The principal reason is the highly mechanical load capacity along with the low density. Moreover, the corrosion resistance plus the damping behavior of the material can be utilized fully in highly stressed structures. However, the concept of manufacture CFRP-parts closed to the final contour does not substitute the need of cutting those. The different properties of fiber- and matrix-material constitute an ambitious challenge while cutting CFRP using a laser beam. This paper deals with elementary analysis of the laser remote cutting process.