Investigations into the Sealing of Heat Damaged Areas by Applying Polymer Powders During Laser Cutting of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Composites

Abstract

Endless carbon fiber reinforced plastics are recognized as having the greatest lightweight construction potential of all materials. Fully automated process chains for the manufacturing of composite structures are needed in order to achieve production rates and cycle times required in many industrial sectors. In this paper, a new technique, based on the in situ sealing of the kerf during high power laser cutting by application of polymer powder is presented. The degree of sealing is analyzed as a function of powder mass flow as well as carrying gas flow and it is shown that moisture uptake can be reduced compared to unsealed laser cut specimens.

Development of Laser Processing Carbon-Fiber-Reinforced Plastic

“…According to the study of Staeh et al [ 90 ], when laser processing of CFRP was performed under various humidity processing settings, with the increase in material humidity, the shear modulus of material decreased and the diameter of HZA rose as the moisture content of the material increased. Jaeschke et al [ 91 ] discovered that the HAZ is more prone to absorb moisture from the surroundings when cutting CFRP with a CO 2 laser, leading to secondary damage and weakening the mechanical properties of the material. Therefore, to decrease moisture absorption and enhance the surface quality of CFRP, polyamide powder was injected using a nozzle into the treated surface to fill in the gaps created after the resin vaporized.…”

Pocket milling of carbon fiber-reinforced plastics using 532-nm nanosecond pulsed laser: An experimental investigation

“…Additional sealing process of damaged areas was explored to improve the cutting quality by some researchers. 8 Short pulsed and short wavelength laser sources are used to suppress HAZ; short laser pulse ablates material quickly with extremely high power intensity and short wavelength laser directly breaks down the chemical bond of materials with high photon energy.…”

Investigation on interlaminar shear strength properties of disc laser machined consolidated CF-PPS laminates

“…To overcome this deficit, fully-automated process chains for the manufacturing and assembly of thermoplastic composites have to be developed in order to achieve production rates and cycle times (<1 min) required by automotive and aircraft industry as well as the civil engineering sector [6,7]. Integrated process cells can be adapted to specific material requirements and to new process elements including laser based techniques for cutting applications [8][9][10]. Today, different cutting techniques like milling or water jet cutting are used, revealing respective advantages and disadvantages [11][12][13][14].…”