Although laser processing of carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP) has gained large attention in the past few years, a large number of open questions concerning the fundamental process mechanisms remain. In order to investigate the laser ablation process of CFRP we performed ablation experiments in different ambient media. A nanosecond laser system was used to ablate grooves on CFRP samples in atmospheres of air or nitrogen as well as in vacuum.
The created grooves were investigated with respect to their width and depth as well as to the extent of the area in which the carbon fibers are laid open due to the thermal damage. In the following this area is referred to as the matrix evaporation zone (MEZ). Conclusions on the nature of the laser ablation process of CFRP can be made by comparing these characteristic attributes in different ambient media. It is shown that ablating in vacuum reduces the MEZ by 26% as compared to the ablation in air [1].