ABSTRACT
The application of the low-power CO2 laser-cutting process to fluoroelastomer (FKM), polyamide 6 (PA6), PA6/FKM thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs), and their thermoplastic vulcanizate (TPV) is reported. The main laser process parameters studied were laser power, cutting speed, and material thickness. The value of the top and bottom widths of the slit that were formed during laser cutting (kerf width), melted transverse area, and melted volume per unit time were measured and analyzed. Interestingly, TPE showed a smaller melted area and melted volume per unit time when compared with those values with PA6. Dynamic vulcanization further decreased these values. For example, the melted areas of PA6 and TPE were 510 × 10−3 mm2 and 305 × 10−3 mm2, respectively, which reduced to 238 × 10−3 mm2 for TPV at 40 W laser power. FKM showed the lowest value (melted area of 180 × 10−3 mm2). In addition, the output quality of the cut surface was examined by measuring the root mean square (RMS) roughness of the cut edges and heat-affected zone (HAZ). The obtained results indicated that the dimension of the HAZ and RMS roughness largely decreased in TPE when compared with PA6. For example, the HAZ of PA6 was 700 μm, which decreased to 230 μm for TPE at 40 W laser power. On the other hand, HAZ was nonexistent for FKM. Infrared spectroscopic analysis showed that there was no structural change of TPE or pristine polymers after applying the low-power CO2 laser on the surface of materials. CO2 laser cutting will be a new technique in this industry, and this analysis will assist the manufacturing industry to choose a suitable laser system with exhaustive information of process parameters for cutting or machining of rubber, TPEs, and TPVs.
