TY - JOUR
TI - Research progress on the quality and efficiency of carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastic polymer composites processed by laser
AU - Feng Wenju
AU - Fang Xing
AU - Yang Qian
AU - Tao Jiafeng
AU - Zheng Zhong
JN - Thermal Science
PY - 2022
VL - 26
IS - 5
SP - 4459
EP - 4474
PT - Article
AB - Carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP) has been widely used in aerospace,  military weapons, new energy and high-end vehicles due to its specific and  superior strength, low density and long-lasting wear resistance. The  processing of CFRP is very different from the traditional metal processing  because of its heterogeneous structure, anisotropy and superior wear  resistance of CFRP. Usually, CFRP has often various defects in mechanical  processing and water jet processing, such as interlayer tearing, fiber  pull-out, delamination, tool wear, and abrasive penetration. Through laser  processing, the problems of CFRP materials existing in mechanical processing  can be overcome. However, due to the huge differences in thermal physical  properties such as thermal conductivity and vaporization temperature of  carbon fiber and resin in CFRP, its laser processing also turns out to have  some issues, such as heat-affected zone and fiber end expansion. This paper  summarizes the research results of CFRP laser processing in China and  internationally. Research progress was introduced in detail from various  aspects including laser and material mechanism as well as laser processing  parameters. It reports the experimental and theoretical studies covering the  process accuracy in edge quality and the thermal characteristics in terms of  heat-affected zone. Eliminating the heat-affected zone in the polymer matrix  are considered the major obstacles of CFRP industrial applications. The  methods of improving processing efficiency by increasing material removal  rate and reducing processing time were reviewed. The influence of different  thermal conductivity of carbon fiber and resin matrix in CFRP on the  processing quality was discussed. Finally, the development trend and  challenges of thermal conductivity of carbon fiber and resin in CFRP in  theoretical modeling were proposed.