Experimental investigation and numerical simulation on continuous wave laser ablation of multilayer carbon fiber composite

Abstract

Laser beam machining is one of the most widely used advanced processing techniques, which can be applied to compound materials. As a large number of photons are absorbed into the composite, the subsequent local heat storage, charring and potential delamination make the study for the effect of laser on complex materials become significant. In this paper, a carbon fiber epoxy composite laminated sheet is irradiated by continuous wave chemical oxygen iodine laser. The peak temperature of front surface, the temperature distribution of rear surface, and the appearance of ablation zone are presented. Further, based on the birth-death elements technique of finite element method, a three-dimensional model for simulating the transient temperature distribution and material removal has been developed under the same condition. The results reveal that the peak temperature of irradiated region ranges from 2800 K to 3100 K, and the center point shows a higher temperature rise rate than the surroundings in the irradiated zone. The measured data and predicted data are in a good consistency, which suggests that the numerical model is appropriate for simulating laser ablation of carbon fiber epoxy composites.

Multi-pass laser cutting of carbon/Kevlar hybrid composite: Prediction of thermal stress, heat-affected zone, and kerf width by thermo-mechanical modeling

“…If the thermal stress exceeds the critical value, the fracture/damage will occur. Equation (6) indicates that the thermal stress rises with the increase of thermal gradient. Figure 10 shows the predicted distribution of residual stress perpendicular to the cutting direction (S xx ) and the element removal profile of the carbon/Kevlar composite after each pass.…”

“…Therefore, modeling of the laser cutting process and the corresponding temperature distribution and thermal stress field becomes essential. 1 There are limited numerical studies concerning cutting of Kevlar fiber reinforced polymer (KFRP) 2,3 and carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) [4][5][6] composites using lasers, owing to inhomogeneous thermal properties.…”

Influence of material inhomogeneity and non-linear mechanical behavior of the material on delamination in multilayered beams

“…tructural members and components made of adhesively bonded layers of dissimilar materials are extensively used in various applications in aerospace and civil engineering mainly when high performance is required [1][2][3]. Various studies of adhesively bonded joints of fiber reinforced composites and sandwich structures have been reviewed in [1].…”

“…Models for prediction of residual mechanical properties of composites under different loading conditions have been described and discussed [2]. The thermomechanical behaviour of a carbon fiber composite laminated sheet that is irradiated by using a continuous wave chemical oxygen iodine laser has been analyzed in [3]. A potential delamination of the composite sheet makes the analysis of the influence of the laser an important practical task.…”

“…It has been found that the model developed is suitable for simulating of laser ablation of carbon fiber epoxy composite materials. The study has indicated that the laser beam machining is an appropriate process for manufacturing of fiber reinforced composite materials [3]. However, multilayered materials and structures have low interlaminar strength which is a premise for development of delamination cracks [4,5].…”