Laser cutting represents an important solution for cutting carbon fiber reinforced polymers (CFRP). Cutting CFRP is particularly important in the production of ultralight aircrafts, where they are mostly cut with a saw, which is very time-consuming. Therefore, the main aim of this thesis is to test different approaches of laser cutting CFRP composites. We used a fiber laser with a wavelength of 1060 nm. Experiments were performed by using pulse duration of 28 ns and an average power of 20 W. Four different cutting strategies were tested: cutting on a single line and three ways of cutting by an engraving. In the case of cutting by an engraving the laser beam was guided within an 1-mm-thick rectangle: filled by parallel lines (0 ° engraving), filled by perpendicular lines (0°/90° engraving) and filled by lines under four different angles (0°/18°/45°/71° engraving). Tests were performed on two CFRP plates with thicknesses of 1 mm and 2 mm. We have found that the most efficient results are obtained by cutting by engraving, where the beam is guided in different directions (0°/90° or 0°/18°/45°/ 71°). Here, the choice of directions has negligible influence on the efficiency and final result. By using the selected laser parameters we successfully cut a circle and a square from the 2-mm-thick CFRP plate. The results proved that the used nanosecond fiber laser system enables flexible laser cutting of CFRP composites with very similar final result as the conventional and time-consuming cutting by a saw.
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