Surface integrity of water jet guided laser machining of CFRP

Carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP) is now applied widely in various industries because of its excellent properties. Although conventional processing methods, such as milling and abrasive water jet, are the dominating techniques used, laser cutting of CFRP is still attractive owing to the wear-free, contactless and flexible processing. However, the anisotropic material properties of CFRP, the issues related to the heat affected zone (HAZ) and delamination during laser processing, are major obstacles in its application. In order to reduce the heat damage caused by laser, a compound machining method, water jet guided laser technique, was adopted to cut CFRP in this paper. In addition, we make a comparative investigation for conventional laser beam machining and water jet guided laser machining with an identical material. The difference of kerf geometry, HAZ, surface morphology and efficiency was discussed within this research. The experiments showed that the HAZ of water jet guided laser is smaller than conventional laser beam machining, but much less efficient. Water jet guided laser technique is a potential processing method for CFRP if the efficiency is improved. (C) 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.