CFRP flexible manufacturing with superior quality and efficiency using a versatile spatially shaped femtosecond laser

As an advanced lightweight structural material, carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) confronts various complex manufacturing demands for diverse industrial applications. Conventional Gaussian lasers lack adaptive flexibility and call for improvements in processing quality and efficiency. Herein, we propose a versatile spatially shaped femtosecond laser flexible processing strategy. Unlike traditional Gaussian lasers, the spatially shaped laser fields with precisely regulated energy distribution, shape and size are tailored for general-purpose CFRP manufacturing while ensuring superior processing quality and efficiency. For selective removal, the energy homogenization and size regulation enable the complete removal of surface resin without damaging the carbon fibers, demonstrating a 33.4-fold increase in effective scanning width. Regarding homogeneous removal, the further U-shaped design effectively suppresses heat transfer to the structural edges, achieving a minimum HAZ of 2.2 μm and a remarkable 96 % reduction. Additionally, the removal volume increases by 2 times and 14 times under identical processing parameters and depths, respectively. Temperature simulations confirm that the removal sizes of resin and carbon fiber are similar under spatially shaped laser field, validating the homogeneous removal mechanism. Through the flexible design and switching of laser fields, several additional CFRP manufacturing cases has been demonstrated. This method shows significant potential for general CFRP manufacturing in various practical engineering applications.