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Laser-based modification of wettablility for carbon fiber reinforced plastics

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Abstract

This paper presents a laser-based technique for surface preparation of carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP) for bonded repair. Ablative and non-ablative treatment of the surface is produced by variation of laser power and the resulting surface energy determined by goniometric measurements. Wettability has been directly related to a calculated wetting envelope. The investigations show an additional major influence of the surface topography on the shear strength of the joint. The direction of the applied laser lines in relation to the fiber direction was identified as an essential influence for this roughness. A ns IR-laser demonstrates high potential for surface preparation as well as for selective ply removal. The laser prepared surfaces are examined through optical microscopy, scanning electron microscope (SEM), and contact angle measurements. The wettability studies show a significant increment in surface energy after laser treatment, in relation to non-treated as well as surface grinding samples.

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Acknowledgements

This work is supported by the European Union, EUROSTARS program, and funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), Germany (No. 01QE0906 C) within the project: PLASER—Development of Turn-Key Portable Repair Unit for Composite Materials. Special thanks go to Mr. Roland Chemama, GMI Aero, Paris, France, for mechanical grinding and specimen consolidation and Mr. Georgios Kanderakis, National Technical University of Athens, Athens, Greece, for shear strength testing.

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Correspondence to Dietmar Kracht.

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Völkermeyer, F., Jaeschke, P., Stute, U. et al. Laser-based modification of wettablility for carbon fiber reinforced plastics. Appl. Phys. A 112, 179–183 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-012-7237-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-012-7237-3

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