Interlaminar damage of carbon fiber reinforced polymer composite laminate under continuous wave laser irradiation

• Thermo-mechanical response of CFRP laminates to CW laser irradiation was investigated.
• Interlaminar cracking was observed around the backward surface of the specimens.
• Temperature and stress were calculated for the CFRP laminates under CW laser irradiation.
• The numerical predictions are consistent with the experimental results on cracking.

The interlaminar damages were investigated on the carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) composite laminate under laser irradiation. Firstly, the laminated T700/BA9916 composites were exposed to continuous wave laser irradiation. Then, the interface cracking patterns of such composite laminates were examined by optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. Finally, the Finite Element Analysis (FEA) was performed to compute the interface stress of the laminates under laser irradiation. And the effects of the laser parameters on the interlaminar damage were discussed.