Abstract

A carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) is expected to be applied to automobile, aerospace and several industries, because of having the characteristics of light weight, weather resistance, chemical resistance and dimensional stability [1]. Laser processing is one of useful tools for CFRP because the laser process, which is a non-contact, does not involve any mechanical cutting forces and tool wear. However, the matrix resin in CFRP was quickly decomposed by laser irradiation before cutting of the carbon fiber, which caused to form a heat affected zone (HAZ) because of differences in thermal properties and laser absorption of carbon fiber and epoxy resin, respectively. In this study, CFRP plates were cut with a nanosecond laser at the wavelength of 1064 nm, and atmosphere was changed from air to argon (Ar) gas for suppression of the HAZ. The ambient gas is an important factor for suppression of HAZ since formation of HAZ might be related to the oxidization of carbon fiber and epoxy resin.

© 2014 Japan Society of Applied Physics, Optical Society of America