Keyhole cutting of carbon fiber reinforced polymer using a long-duration nanosecond pulse laser

The machining performance of a high-energy nanosecond pulse laser with a near-infrared wavelength is investigated for carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) with two different fiber arrangements. This research work demonstrates for the first time that a keyhole mode cutting can be achieved for CFRP materials using a high-energy nanosecond pulse laser of a Long Pulse mode (120 ns). Specifically, it is shown that the short-duration Q-Switch mode (8 ns) results in ineffective material removal for CFRP, despite much higher peak laser power intensity than the Long Pulse mode. In Long Pulse mode, multi-pass straight line and contour cutting experiments are further performed to investigate the effect of laser processing parameters and resultant machined surface integrity. Plasma absorption effects using both pulse modes are discussed. The results show that a 2.2 mm thick cross-ply CFRP panel can be cut through using as few as 6 laser passes, and a high-quality machined surface can be produced with a limited heat-affected zone and minimal fiber pull-out using Argon assist gas. The successful outcomes from this work provide the key to enable efficient CFRP laser machining using high-energy nanosecond pulse lasers, and offer insight into the unique energy absorption mechanisms for CFRP laser machining.