International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 42 (2002) 105113

Analysis and prediction of laser cutting parameters of fibre

reinforced plastics (FRP) composite materials
A.A. Cenna a, P. Mathew b,*

a
Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Newcastle, University Drive, Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia
b
School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia

Received 15 September 1999; received in revised form 20 April 2001; accepted 4 May 2001

Abstract

A theoretical model is presented considering the spatial distribution of the laser beam, interaction time between the laser and
the work material, absorption coefficient of the laser beam at the laser wavelength and the thermal properties of the material. It is
assumed that the laser energy is absorbed through the entire thickness of the material. The developed model predicts the various
parameters in laser cutting of composite materials such as kerf width at the entry and at the exit, material removal rate and energy
transmitted through the cut kerf. The theoretical analysis also determines the position of the beam with respect to the cutting front.
Experiments for different laser and material combinations to evaluate the effects of cutting parameters on the cut quality were
carried out to compare with the predicted results. The results obtained show very good agreement. 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd.
All rights reserved.

Keywords: Laser; Composite; Maximum cutting speed; Kerf angle; Machining

1. Introduction composite materials. The difference in thermal proper-

With technology advancing rapidly today, the appli-
cations of composite materials are increasing within the
marketplace. The application of fibre reinforced com-
posites such as aramid, glass, carbon and boron com-
posite materials in aircraft and space stations appear
more and more promising. As long as higher strength
and lower weight remains a prime design criterion, the
application of various composite materials will grow in
these areas. To provide cost-effective components to the
industry, automation and a higher production rate are
necessary. This can be achieved by laser machining of
the composites.
Lasers have been applied in industrial cutting appli-
cations on a variety of materials. It is evident that in
laser cutting of fibre reinforced plastic (FRP) composite
materials the main concern is the quality of the cut sur-
faces which arises out of the thermal anisotropy of the
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +61-2-9385-4248; fax: +61-2-9663-
1222.
E-mail address: p.mathew@unsw.edu.au (P. Mathew).
ties of carbon fibre and resin matrix is responsible for
the poor quality of laser cut surfaces in carbon fibre
reinforced plastic (CFRP) composites whereas best
results are achieved with aramid fibre reinforced plastics
(AFRP) composites due to the polymeric nature of the
fibre and matrix [1]. Again, the kerf width is not a con-
stant rather a slope on the cut surface is evident giving
a wider cut at the top and a narrower kerf at the bottom
of the surface. On the basis of experimental work by
Tagliaferr et al. [2] the principal quality criteria proposed
are the kerf width at the inlet of the beam (Wi), kerf
width at the exit of the beam (We), width of the heat
affected zone (HAZ), slope of the cut surfaces, delami-
nation extension and craters on the cut surfaces.
A great deal of experimental results are available in
the literature concerning these cut quality parameters.
Kerf width at the inlet and exit decreases with increased
cutting speed and inlet kerf width is less sensitive to
cutting speed [35]. Kerf width is less sensitive to power
changes [4]. The angle of the cut surfaces is also affected
by cutting speed [3]. Cut quality with respect to the kerf
angle is better at an intermediate cutting speed [6] which
is lower than the maximum cutting speed achievable for

0890-6955/02/$ - see front matter 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 8 9 0 - 6 9 5 5 ( 0 1 ) 0 0 0 9 0 - 6
106 A.A. Cenna, P. Mathew / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 42 (2002) 105113

wavelength and the thermal properties of the material is

Nomenclature presented. The threshold intensity of the beam defined
by Duley [8] is incorporated in the model to predict the
r Density kerf width at the inlet. By predicting the cut kerf at the
t Interaction time inlet and exit, slope of the cut surfaces, position of the
q Kerf angle beam with respect to the cutting front and the energy
z Gaussian shape factor transmitted through the kerf is estimated.
a Thermal diffusivity
a Absorptivity
GFRP Glass Fibre Reinforced Plastics 2. Theoretical development
AFRP Aramid Fibre Reinforced Plastics
CFRP Carbon Fibre Reinforced Plastics In laser machining the erosion front remains stationary
cp Specific heat relative to the coordinate system moving with the laser
d Focussed beam diameter beam central axis. As a result, the process can be ana-
D Material thickness lysed as a steady state problem.
dA Conduction area Although laser grooving and cutting is essentially a
E Energy three-dimensional heat flow problem, the laser cutting
erf Error function process can be analysed as a two dimensional problem
L Vaporisation energy because of its process characteristics. In laser cutting a
I beam intensity steady high temperature vapour front (cutting front) is
K Thermal conductivity fed into the material at a constant speed. The cutting
P Laser Power front temperature is assumed to be constant and at the
r Distance of a point from beam centre vaporisation temperature of the fibre [9]. In fact, the cut-
R Beam radius ting front temperature is not a constant but rather it var-
T Temperature ies with laser, material and process parameters.
t Specimen thickness The temperature, other than in the vicinity of the cut-
V Cutting speed ting front, is essentially very low as the process is very
W Kerf width fast and the thermal conductivity is low. The effect of
Wd Heat Affected Zone convection at the top and bottom surfaces of the work-
piece is negligible compared to the heat conduction into
Subscripts the material.
Thermal conductivity of the fibre is a directional pro-
b Beam perty and other properties are bulk properties. As a
i Entry side of the beam result, conduction heat flow from the cutting front is
e Exit assumed to be directional and in line and in plane with
o Ambient the fibre and matrix. The heat flow in the direction of
v Vaporisation cutting is not lost to the system rather it is used for pre-
heating the material in front of the beam. As a result a
two dimensional heat conduction problem would be able
a given set of laser and material parameters. The length to describe the situation without introducing large error
of protruding fibres outside the matrix is found to in the analysis. Fig. 1 explains the two dimensional
decrease with increasing cutting speed [2]. heat flow.
The flexibility of laser cutting technology has been
highlighted by Chryssolouris et al [7], where its applica-
bility not only in two dimensional, but also in three-
dimensional cutting operations has been assessed. In
order to understand the potential and possible limitations
of these techniques, a deeper knowledge of the phenom-
ena that occurs during the laser cutting process is
required. At the same time, there is a need for analytic
tools allowing for the choice of optimum working con-
ditions on a sound scientific basis.
In this paper a theoretical model, which has been
developed considering the spatial distribution of the laser
beam, interaction time between the laser and the work
material, absorption coefficient of the laser energy at the Fig. 1. Scheme of two dimensional heat flow in laser cutting.
 A.A. Cenna, P. Mathew / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 42 (2002) 105113 107

The following sections describe the theoretical devel- aP

opment of the laser cutting parameters such as kerf I0 .
p(xR)2
width, depth of cut, kerf angle, beam position with
respect to the cutting front and transmitted beam energy
through the cut kerf. The total beam energy incident on a point (u,v) from the
beam centre can be estimated by integrating the spatial
2.1. Development of the model distribution of the beam energy along the x axis and at
a distance v along the y direction from the beam axis
Laser grooving process of composite materials have and is given by [14]:
been analysed to predict maximum groove depth and

u
Heat Affected Zone (HAZ) by Sheng and Chryssolouris aP x2+v2
[9,10]. The complex three-dimensional erosion front Eb(u,v) 2
exp dx (3)
p(zR) V (zR)2
geometry was assumed to be piecewise linear infini-

tesimal control surface elements by Sheng and Chryssol-

ouris. The control surface considered in the laser cutting
analysis is shown in Fig. 2. The effective thermal con-
ductivity of the composite material with respect to the
direction of heat flow, relative to the fibre direction, has
been discussed by several authors [1113]. The energy
balance between the absorbed beam energy and material
vaporisation and heat conduction is expressed as
Eb(x,y) dx dyEcond(x,y)dAEvap(x,y) dx dy
Laser cutting is a transient heat transfer problem.
Material is subjected to intense heat for a certain time
called the interaction time (t). A high intensity beam of
diameter d moves at a constant cutting speed V. The time
coordinate can be translated into the spatial coordinate
as the interaction time is t=d/V and the heat transfer into
the material through conduction can be calculated as
(1) [15]:

where Eb is the beam energy, Econd is the conduction
energy and Evap is the vaporisation energy component
for the infinitesimal control surface.
From the geometry of the infinitesimal surface
element it is evident that dA=dx dytan q
Each energy component represents the total amount
of energy occurring over the path from to the pos- beam diameter.
ition of the surface element.
The beam is assumed to have a Gaussian Intensity
distribution of the form:
paV(T T )
d
Econd2keff v 0 (4)
where keff is the effective conductivity of the composite,
a is the thermal diffusivity, Tv is the vaporisation tem-
perature, T0 is the ambient temperature and d is the
The vaporisation energy associated with the depth of
cut is the energy required to heat the material to the
vaporisation temperature plus vaporisation heat capacity

of the material and is given by:
r2
I(x,y)I0 exp (2) Evap(x,y)r(cp(TvT0)L)D(x,y) (5)
(xR)2
where I0 is the intensity at the beam centre, r is the dis- where D(x,y) is the depth of cut at the point (x,y) within
tance of the point from the beam centre, z is the shape the beam effect.
factor which defines the effective shape of the distri- Introducing the above energy components (Eqs. (3)
bution and R is the radius of the beam where the beam (5)) into Eq. (1), the cutting depth at any point (u,v)
2
intensity falls to e1/z . For a Gaussian distribution of within the vicinity of the laser beam can be estimated as:
energy, the centreline intensity is given by D(u,v) (6)
aP
2pzRV
exp
v2
(zR)2
(1+erf[u/(zR)]2keff

paV(T T )tan q
d
v 0

dr(cp(TvT0)+L)

Eq. (6) gives the instantaneous material removal depth

removed by the beam energy. When the beam has passed
Fig. 2. Laser cutting process and control surface for energy balance: the material cut area, a steady state kerf shape is gener-
(a) coordinate system aligned at the beam centre line; (b) infinitesimal ated. This is obtained by introducing u in Eq. (6)
control surface. and the steady state kerf profile is given by:
108 A.A. Cenna, P. Mathew / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 42 (2002) 105113

aP
pzRV
exp
v2
(zR)2
2keff paV(T T )tan q
d
v 0 Kerf width at the exit is given as We=2we.
D(v) (7)
r(cp(TvT0)+L) 2.3. Position of the beam

Eq. (6) can be used to generate the profile of the exit

The maximum cutting thickness is obtained at the beam kerf with the given material properties, workpiece thick-
centreline and this is obtained by putting v=0 in Eq. (7)
ness and laser power. Replacing cutting depth by
which gives the maximum thickness of material that can material thickness t, and for the centreline intensity
be cut through for the given material properties and (v=0), the x-axis distance ub would represent the position
laser parameters: of the kerf edge along the beam centerline. The sign of
ub indicates whether the beam is ahead of the kerf or

aP d
2keff (TvT0)tan q
pzRV
behind the kerf. Fig. 3 represents the beam position with
paV respect to the cutting front.
tmax (8)
r(cp(TvT0)+L) The beam position with respect to the cutting front at
different laser powers and cutting speeds is given by:

where tmax is the maximum material thickness that can
be cut through given the material, laser and process para- ub
erf (11)
meters. zR

2.2. Estimating kerf widths

Inlet kerf width is calculated using the threshold

energy intensity of the laser for the specific material
properties. The threshold intensity is the intensity below
which material will not be vaporised for a given interac-

2pzRV rt(cp(TvT0)+L)+2keff paV(T T )tan q
d
v 0

tion time. If the interaction time t is set at Wi/V, where 1
aP
Wi is the kerf width at the inlet, the beam intensity at a
distance Wi/2 can be compared with the threshold inten-
sity given by [8]:
2.4. Slope of the cut kerf (q)
K 2T 2v p
t 2 (9)
4I a The slope of the cut kerf can be estimated from Eq.
(7). By differentiating the kerf profile with respect to the
where K is the thermal conductivity, Tv is the vaporis- distance from the centerline (v), the slope of the cut kerf
ation temperature, I is the beam intensity and a is the along the cut surface can be obtained. Using the bottom
thermal diffusivity. and top kerf width and the thickness of the material we
The width at which beam intensity equals the thres- can calculate the average slope of the cut kerf.
hold intensity determines the kerf width at the beam
inlet (Wi).
Replacing the maximum cutting thickness (Eq. (8))
with material thickness t, the distance along the y-axis
dD
dv

4aPv
p(zR)3Vzr(cp(TvT0)+L)
exp
v2
(zR)2 (12)

will represent the kerf at the bottom surface. The dis-

tance from the centreline (we) is given by the follow- Slope at the bottom can be estimated as
ing equation:
wezR (10)

ln
aP

pzRV rt(c (T T )+L)+2k
p v o eff paV(T T )tan q
d
v 0
Fig. 3. Schematic representation of laser beam, cutting front and inlet
and exit kerf width.
 A.A. Cenna, P. Mathew / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 42 (2002) 105113 109

qetan1 dD
dv v=we
width of cut kerf, angle of the cut surfaces, material
vaporisation rate and transmitted energy through the exit
kerf at different cutting speeds. The width of the heat
Slope at the top can be estimated as afected zone is also determined from the model. In order

to validate the model, laser cutting experiments were
dD performed on 2 mm, 3 mm and 4 mm thick AFRP and
qitan1
dv v=wt GFRP samples. A PRC 1.5 kW cw CO2 laser was used
with powers varying from 600 W to 1000 W. The
Average slope of the cut kerf is
focused beam radius was 0.1 mm. Cutting speed was

qavgtan1 t
wtwe
Analysis shows that the slope at the bottom of the kerf
is very close to the average slope, whereas the slope near
the top of the specimen is smaller than the average slope
and decreases as the top surface is reached.
2.5. Transmitted energy loss
This is the energy which is transmitted through the
kerf without contributing to the cutting process and is
estimated as:
varied from 10 mm/s to 60 mm/s.
Polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) blocks were used to
estimate the transmitted energy loss through the cut kerf.
PMMA has specific ablation energy of 3000 J/cm3 [16]
and a density of 1.17 g/cm3. The initial and final weights
were measured on a digital scale (Sartorius Analytic-
Model A200S) with accuracy of 1/10000 g. By knowing
the weight loss, the power loss through the kerf was cal-
culated. The kerf widths were measured using an optical
microscope (CARL ZEISS) and from the kerf widths and
the material thickness the average slope of the cut kerf
was calculated.
Fig. 4 represents the theoretical energy balance during
laser cutting of (a) 4 mm AFRP and (b) 4 mm GFRP

specimen using a laser power of 600 W and 1000 W,
We respectively. From Fig. 4 it is evident that at lower
EaP.erf 2[rVt(cp(TvT0)L) (13)
zR speeds the transmitted energy loss is extremely high
compared with the vaporisation energy and the conduc-
paV(T T )tan q]W
d
2keff v 0 e
tion loss. With increasing cutting speed transmitted
energy loss decreases sharply at the lower speed range
where We is estimated from Eq. (10). The transmitted (10 to 30 mm/s) and then reduces gradually with
energy loss helps with the evaluation of the energy increased cutting speed. This is due to the fact that at
efficiency of the cutting process. lower speed the cutting front is ahead of the beam cent-
erline and the maximum intensity of the beam passes
2.6. Material vaporisation rate through the kerf. At higher speeds, the higher intensity
region of the beam is being used in cutting, with the
Material vaporisation rate is estimated assuming that beam centre being on the cutting front. Therefore only
complete material removal occurs at the vaporisation the lower intensity energy levels of the beam passes
temperature. The rate of vaporisation is given by: through the kerf. In Fig. 4b the transmitted energy loss
for GFRP goes to zero. This happens at 60 mm/s, thus
M
aP
(cp(TvT0)+L)
erf
Wt
zR
erf
We
zR
(14)
limiting the maximum cutting speed for the thickness
here at the given power level.
Further, as the cutting speed increases, the vaporis-

paV(T T )tan q[W W ]2W trV

d ation energy per unit length is almost constant with a
2keff v 0
slight reduction due to the reduction in size of the exit
kerf at the high speeds and the conduction loss reduces
(cp(TvT0)+L) t e e

with increased speed which in turn reduces the heat

3. Comparison of theoretical and experimental
results
The model developed here uses the FORTRAN langu-
age. Material properties and process parameters are
incorporated interactively into the model as input to cal-
culate depth of cut, the maximum cutting thickness,
affected zone. Compared to GFRP, AFRP has only a
small amount of conduction loss and it reduces faster
than that for the GFRP material due to lower heat diffu-
sivity of the AFRP material.
Fig. 5 shows the theoretical and experimental energy
loss over the cutting speeds used for both GFRP and
AFRP materials. The comparison of experimental and
theoretical transmitted energy shows that in the case of
GFRP material the model overestimated the loss at low-
est cutting speed and underestimates the energy loss
110 A.A. Cenna, P. Mathew / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 42 (2002) 105113
Fig. 4. Energy balance for unit length of cut: (a) 4 mm AFRP speci-
men cutting with 600 W; (b) 4 mm GFRP specimen cutting with
1000 W.
above 20 mm/s. This is due to the fact that the model
overestimated the exit kerf width at lower speeds. This
is probably due to the effect of cooling by the assist gas
in the experiments. As the cutting front temperature of
the GFRP is much higher than that of AFRP, this effect
is more prominent in GFRP.
At higher cutting speeds, the model consistently
underestimates the transmitted energy loss in GFRP but
not in AFRP. This is indicative of a different type of
material removal mechanism in the case of GFRP. In
AFRP laser cutting, the cut surface is generated at the
vaporisation temperature of the material constituents of
the composite. In GFRP, as realised by some other
authors [1], material is also removed by melting which
Fig. 5. Comparison of theoretical and experimental transmitted
energy loss for 4 mm GFRP (a) and AFRP (b) specimen cutting with
800 W laser.
requires less energy than vaporisation. As a result, a
larger exit kerf is generated which permits a larger
amount of energy transmission through the kerf. This
mechanism is also supported by the findings of the cut-
ting front temperature measurement in GFRP. It was
found [17] that the cutting front temperature is below
the vaporisation temperature of the glass fibre in the
composite. Reduction in conduction heat loss with
increased cutting speed proves the fact that as less heat
is conducted away, the heat affected zone will be
reduced with increased cutting speed.
In Fig. 6 the comparison of the experimental and
theoretical kerf widths at the inlet and at the exit of the
 A.A. Cenna, P. Mathew / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 42 (2002) 105113 111

Fig. 6. Comparison of theoretical and experimental kerf width vari-

ation with cutting speed for 4 mm GFRP (a) and AFRP (b) composites
with 800 W CW CO2 laser power.

beam is presented. In this figure the model underesti-

mates the kerf width at the inlet and at the exit at lower
speeds. This is due to the fact that at lower speeds the
cutting front temperature is extremely high which vapor-
ises more material there by widening the kerf width. It
has been stated earlier that the inlet kerf width is almost
unaffected by the cutting speed. Kerf width at the exit
decreases at a faster rate than the inlet kerf width.
Although, the model agrees well with the experimental
results for AFRP material, the model consistently under
estimated the exit kerf width for GFRP. Again the reason
for this underestimation is the different material removal
mechanism for GFRP material which is believed to be
a combination of melting and vaporisation.
The angle of the kerf surfaces represents the geometri-
cal accuracy of the machined workpiece. Comparison of
the predicted and experimental slopes of the cut surfaces
Fig. 7. Comparison of theoretical and experimental kerf angle with
cutting speed: (a) for GFRP; (b) for AFRP (thickness 3 mm, laser
power 800 W).
is presented in Figs. 7a and b. In all the figures, experi-
mental average, theoretical average and predicted kerf
angle at the exit of the specimen are presented.
In Fig. 7a, the results of the GFRP materials are
presented. The model predicts the kerf angle at the beam
exit of the specimen. The experimental and predicted
average kerf angles are determined by the kerf widths
(experimental and predicted) and the material thickness.
112 A.A. Cenna, P. Mathew / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 42 (2002) 105113
From the figure it is clear that the experimental and pre-
dicted average kerf angles compare reasonably well. The
angle of the kerf surfaces at the exit predicted by the
model is higher than both the experimental and predicted
average kerf angles. This is due to the fact that the angle
of the kerf surfaces is not a constant, rather, it changes
from maximum at the exit and decreases gradually to a
minimum at the top surface. Finally it takes a rounded
shape at the top edge.
The figures show that the average kerf angle decreases
with increasing cutting speed for both materials. How-
ever, for the GFRP material at lower cutting speed range,
the average kerf angle and the angle at the exit decrease
almost at the same rate. After a certain cutting speed (40
mm/s for 600 W and 50 mm/s for 800 W) kerf angle at
the exit decreases sharply with increasing cutting speed.
Average kerf angles also decrease at a higher rate
beyond that cutting speed. The cutting speed at which
the slope at the exit decreases sharply indicates that the
limiting cutting speed has been reached. This is due to
the fact that the exit kerf also decreases rapidly to zero
beyond this cutting speed. The cutting speed can only be
increased further at the expense of geometrical accuracy
(smaller slope of the kerf surfaces).
In Fig. 7b the results of AFRP materials are presented.
A similar trend was obtained for AFRP as seen for
GFRP. The notable difference is the kerf angle is higher
than that of GFRP. Average kerf angle for GFRP is 86
88, whereas the average kerf angle for AFRP is between
88 and 89. The angle at the exit of the specimen is
close to 90 for AFRP and close to 89 for GFRP
material. The sharp decrease of the kerf angle is not seen
for AFRP materials due to the fact that the maximum
cutting speed range for the set of parameters has not
been reached.
Although it is possible to get a perfectly 90 (parallel)
cut surface experimentally, the model was not able to
predict that, because of the limitation of the parameters
accommodated in the model. The model is based on the
spatial distribution of the laser beam and the effects of
assist gas pressure, cutting front temperature variation,
removal of the vaporisation and melting products from
the cutting zone have been ignored. If these effects were
considered, it would have been possible to predict the
cutting parameters more precisely. This needs further
research and a deeper knowledge of the material removal
process, which occurs during laser cutting.
4. Conclusion
The model developed uses the energy balance equ-
ation to predict various parameters in laser cutting of
composite materials. The developed model successfully
predicts the cut quality parameters such as kerf width at
the inlet and at the exit and angle of the cut surfaces. It
also predicts the transmitted energy loss through the
kerf. However, the model has underestimated the results
obtained for the GFRP material. It is believed that a dif-
ferent material removal mechanism is involved in GFRP
as explained earlier. A detailed analysis of material
removal mechanism in glass fibre composite is needed
before we can accommodate the amount of the fibre
being removed by melting in our model. Overall the
methodology used here is successful for analysing laser
cutting of composite materials.
Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to the Australian Research
Council and University of New South Wales for the
Small Grant allocated to this project and to A. Jeromin
for his help with the experimental work.
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