Dimethicone-assisted laser cutting of CFRP hole

When cutting carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) plate with UV nanosecond laser, the surface heat-affected zone (HAZ) such as fiber exposure and carbonization will occur, which affects the surface morphology and properties of CFRP. In this paper, dimethicone-assisted laser cutting technology is proposed. Compared with laser direct cutting, we found that dimethicone-assisted cutting has obvious advantages in cutting CFRP. Due to the heat transfer inhibition of dimethicone, there is almost no burning phenomenon of matrix materials. The orthogonal test method was used to study the three key process parameters (laser scanning speed, repetition frequency and concentric circle spacing) of dimethicone-assisted laser cutting CFRP. It is concluded that the HAZ width can be controlled at 38.70–54.77 μm with dimethicone, compared with the traditional direct machining (HAZ width: 109.64–439.13 μm). Under the optimal cutting parameters of laser scanning speed of 500 mm/s, repetition rate of 50 kHz and concentric circle spacing of 0.04 mm, the minimum HAZ is 38.70 μm, which is reduced by 85.89% (the HAZ width of laser direct machining is 274.37 μm).

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Opracowanie rekordu ze środków MEiN, umowa nr SONP/SP/546092/2022 w ramach programu "Społeczna odpowiedzialność nauki" - moduł: Popularyzacja nauki i promocja sportu (2022-2023)