Significant Reduction in Energy Consumption and Carbon Emission While Improving Productivity in Laser Drilling of CFRP Sheets with a Novel Stepped Process Parameter Parallel Ring Method

Although laser drilling of carbon fibre-reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites offers the advantages of zero tool-wear and avoidance of fibre delamination compared with mechanical drilling, it consumes considerably more energy during the drilling process. This research shows that by using a new, stepped parameter parallel ring laser hole drilling method, an energy saving of 78.10% and an 18.37 gCO(2) reduction for each hole, while improving productivity by more than 300%, can be achieved in laser drilling of 6 mm diameter holes in CFRP sheets of 2 mm in thickness, compared with previous laser drilling methods under the same drilling quality. The key reason for this is an increase in energy input to the inner rings enabling more rapid removal of the material, while the lower energy input for the outer ring provides a shielding trench to reduce the heat loss into the parent material. The results are compared with single-ring laser drilling and multiple-ring laser drilling with constant processing parameters, and a discussion is given on comparing with mechanical drilling and future prospects, including a combined mechanical drilling and laser pre-scribing process.