Abstract
For practical uses of self-sensing Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastics (CFRP) based on the electrical conductivity of carbon fiber, electrical contact between electrodes and carbon fiber is one of the most important issues. This is because the residual resin between electrode and CFRP laminate improperly affects the measured value of electrical resistance change of CFRP laminate. In addition, the simplicity of the manufacturing process of electrodes is strongly required. In the conventional manufacturing process of the copper plating electrodes at a test piece level, surface condition after removing surface resin of CFRP laminate by sandpaper depends on individual manufacturers. In the present study, the newly invented method to remove surface resin by CO_2 laser treatment is proposed. Some experiments with various combinations between laser power and processing speed were performed; the measurement of electrical contact resistance by the Transmission Line Measurement (TLM) method and the probe method, the microscopy of the laser treated area and the evaluation of electrical contact resistance increases after cyclic loading test. As a result, the feasibility of the proposed method was shown.
