Damage - Property correlation after laser cutting of CFRP

Laser cutting as contactless machining processes would reveal several advantages compared to mechanical machining. The remote technology with high-speed beam deflection systems and high beam quality can realise high cutting rates of CFRP. The present work presents extensive parameter studies influencing the cutting quality. Special focus was on the analytics of degradation and damages. Beside microsections, optical microscopy and scanning electron microscope (SEM) investigations, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were used to identify kind and depth of the chemical degradation. The optimised parameters were in the following proved by mechanical testing to correlate the identified degradations and damages to mechanical properties. The results of analytics and mechanical testing reveal the correlation between degradation and mechanical properties.