Experimental study of CFRP cutting with nanosecond lasers

A carbon fiber reinforced plastic [CFRP] is widely used for automobile, aircraft because of high strength, lightweight and weather resistance. The cutting of CFRP is difficult since it is composed of a complex matrix of carbon fiber and epoxy resin. In this paper, CFRP was cut with UV and IR nanosecond lasers. The ablation plume of CFRP was investigated with an ultra-high speed camera and a spectrometer under the laser irradiation. From the results, it was clear that the ablation dynamics differed with wavelength of the laser. It was confirmed that the ablation rate of the IR laser was 0.85 μm/ pulse larger than 0.6μm/ pulse for the UV laser.