Investigation on cutting damage mechanism of carbon fiber reinforced polymer based on macro/microscopic simulation

Carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) is widely used in the aerospace field due to its excellent physical and mechanical properties such as high specific strength, high specific modulus and good corrosion resistance. However, it is prone to bring burrs, tears, matrix, and fiber debonding during the cutting process due to its non-homogeneity and anisotropy, which seriously affects the service life of the material. To explore the damage failure mechanism of the CFRP cutting process, 2D and 3D finite element simulation models were established based on Abaqus in this paper. Furthermore, the influence law of fiber direction on cutting damage failure and chip forming was analyzed from micro and macro levels. Finally, the effectiveness of the simulation model was verified by experiments. The results show that the cutting surface of CFRP with a 45° fiber angle is serrated, and the local failure is not obvious; the main defect of CFRP with 90° fiber angle cutting is a matrix and fiber debonding, and some fibers will be crushed and cut off; Serious degumming phenomenon occurred in the cutting process of CFRP with 135° fiber angle, and the bending and fracture of fiber also occur below the cutting depth; It is noteworthy that the stress distribution diverges along the fiber direction.