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Experimental study on gas-assisted laser cutting carbon fiber reinforced plastics

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Abstract

To explore the method of low-damage gas-assisted laser processing of carbon fiber reinforced plastics, using QCW450 quasi-continuous fiber laser cutting machine (maximum peak power 4500 W), and laser scribing carbon fiber reinforced plastics with three gas-assisted methods: coaxial nitrogen, coaxial oxygen, and coaxial oxygen paraxial nitrogen compound gas-assisted, and study the influence of the three on cutting quality. At the same time, the single factor experiment method is used to study the impact of laser peak power, scanning speed, and gas pressure on processing quality, mainly analyzing the size of the heat-affected zone of the cutting section, the cutting depth, and the width of the upper slit, and analyze the action mechanism of gas-assisted laser processing of carbon fiber reinforced plastics. The experimental results show that nitrogen can bring a certain cooling effect during high-power and high-speed processing. Oxidation exothermic effect of oxygen can promote the removal of thermal melting of materials, and high-pressure airflow can take away a part of the excess heat and erosion of the residual kerf. Meanwhile, the nitrogen and oxygen mixed gas assists comprehensively in reducing thermal damage and improving the feasibility of etching. The greater the laser peak power, the deeper the etching depth, and the greater the width of the heat-affected zone, the higher the cutting speed, the width of the heat-affected zone, and the cutting depth will decrease. Too much or too little gas pressure is not conducive to improving quality. This research provides a reference for low-damage gas laser processing carbon fiber reinforced plastics.

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Funding

This work was financially supported and funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) (62004050, 52165056), the Key Project of Guangxi Natural Science Foundation (2019JJD160010), the Innovation Project of Guangxi Graduate Education (YCBZ2021073), the GUET Excellent Graduate Thesis Program (18YJPYBS01), and the Innovation Project of GUET Graduate Education (2020YCXS010, 2021YCXS001).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Mechanical and Control Engineering, Guilin University of Technology, Guilin, 541006, Guangxi, China

    Ting Qin & Zhixian Zhong

  2. School of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering, Guangxi Key Laboratory of Manufacturing Systems and Advanced Manufacturing Technology, Guilin University of Electronic Technology, Guilin, 541004, Guangxi, China

    Hui Jiao, Liao Zhou, Yuxing Huang & Yuhong Long

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  1. Ting Qin
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  2. Zhixian Zhong
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  3. Hui Jiao
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  4. Liao Zhou
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  5. Yuxing Huang
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Contributions

Ting Qin proposed research ideas, designed research methods, and established experimental research and analysis. Hui Jiao was responsible for data collection, classification, and storage in the early days. Liao Zhou is responsible for the collection, tracking, and sorting of documents. Zhixian Zhong and Yuxing Huang were involved in manuscript writing instruction. Yuhong Long carried out framework layout, key point analysis, and guidance for the manuscript. All the authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Zhixian Zhong, Hui Jiao or Yuhong Long.

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Qin, T., Zhong, Z., Jiao, H. et al. Experimental study on gas-assisted laser cutting carbon fiber reinforced plastics. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 119, 6361–6370 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-021-08467-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-021-08467-4

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