Pretreatment of carbon fiber reinforced epoxy resin composites by laser selective ablation

Patch repair method has been mainly used on surface repair of composites, and the bonding property between the patch and the damaged surface is the major factor that affects the repair effect. Surface pretreatment is an important way of enhancing the bonding strength. Nd:YAG laser machine was used for selective ablation pretreatment of carbon fiber reinforced epoxy resin composites. Microscope morphology, physical and chemical properties and mechanical properties of the composites were analyzed with scanning electron microscopy (SEM), 3D profiler, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Raman spectrometer respectively. The results show that the epoxy resin can be removed effectively and the structure of the carbon fiber unwounded, the surface active property and the bonding performance promoted, the number of C-O group increased by approximately 87% and the adhesive tensile-shear strength upgraded about 36%. © 2016, Editorial Office of CHINA SURFACE ENGINEERING. All right reserved.