Introduction

Hexcel^® HexForce^™ 353 Aramid Fabric is part of a line of reinforcement fabrics manufactured by Hexcel. Hexcel HexForce 353 Aramid Fabric is a woven fabric consisting of layers of small aramid (Kevlar) filaments. Aramid fabric is lightweight, has high tensile strength, excellent dimensional stability, and is chemically and thermally resistant. HexForce 353 Aramid Fabric consists of a 230µm thick fiber weave. A diagram depicting HexForce 353 Aramid Fabric is shown in Figure 1.HexForce 353 Aramid Fabric has high strength, low weight, and is chemically resistant. It is used as a reinforcement material in composites for use in aerospace applications as well as marine, tooling and recreational products. The non-contact nature of laser processing allows applications to be processed with small features and fine geometry which might be difficult to achieve with traditional mechanical methods. HexForce 353 Aramid Fabric is only suitable for laser cutting, which produces consistent edges and minimal heat-affected zones. Other laser processes are not suggested as they are not conducive to the intended use of this material. Universal Laser Systems technology makes it simple to consistently and repeatedly process this material to a high degree of dimensional accuracy because the non-contact nature of laser processing eliminates material deformation during processing.

Laser Processing Notes

HexForce 353 Aramid Fabric was tested to assess laser processing compatibility and determine the best configuration of laser peak power and wavelength. There was found to be no substantial difference between 9.3µm and 10.6µm laser energy when used to process Hex Force 353 Aramid Fabric. A microscopy image taken at 300x magnification of the edge of HexForce 353 Aramid Fabric after laser cutting is shown in Figure 2.Processing Example

HexForce 353 Aramid Fabric applications requiring fine geometry and intricate detail without degrading the physical properties of the material can be accomplished with Universal Laser Systems technology. An example demonstrating the results of laser processing HexForce 353 Aramid Fabric using the recommended system configuration is shown in Figure 3.Conclusion

HexForce 353 Aramid Fabric is suitable for laser processing and was extensively tested to determine the optimal processing configuration. Through this testing it was determined that laser cutting is viable with this material and using a 75 watt CO₂ laser source at either 9.3µm or 10.6µm is the best system configuration for the processing of this material. HexForce 353 Aramid Fabric efficiently absorbs either 9.3µm or 10.6µm laser energy to produce an edge that has minimal heat-affected zone and discoloration.