Laser Precision Processing Technologies and Equipment for Aerospace Materials

A special issue of Micromachines (ISSN 2072-666X). This special issue belongs to the section "D:Materials and Processing".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2026 | Viewed by 886

Special Issue Editor

School of Mechanical Science and Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China
Interests: additive manufacturing; inkjet 3D printing; intelligent manufacturing; functionally graded materials; difficult–to–machine materials
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The aerospace sector extensively employs difficult–to–machine materials such as titanium alloys, carbon–carbon composites, SiC/SiC ceramic–matrix composites, PEEK and PI. The operational reliability of critical components in extreme environments depends critically on geometric precision and surface integrity. Conventional methods, cutting, electrical–discharge machining and grinding/polishing often induce heat–affected zones, recast layers, delamination and microcracks, and they struggle to meet vacuum, cryogenic and cleanliness constraints. Laser precision-machining offers a disruptive pathway to high–quality microfabrication and remanufacturing of aerospace materials, with advantages including spatiotemporal control of energy deposition, low thermal input, non–contact operation and compatibility with special environments. Strong results have been demonstrated in microhole/microchannel fabrication, surface polishing and deburring, functional texturing, controlled thinning of thin–walled components and repair. However, to meet aerospace demands for high reliability and engineering scalability, it remains essential to elucidate multiscale laser–material interaction mechanisms and to refine integrated equipment–process design and closed-loop control systems.

This Micromachines Special Issue, “Laser Precision Processing Technologies and Equipment for Aerospace Materials” welcomes research articles, communications and reviews on material systems used in aerospace applications, including metals, composites, ceramics and polymers. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, (i) laser–material interactions and modeling; (ii) novel laser microfabrication and surface-modification techniques; (iii) beam shaping, scanning and five-axis motion equipment with system integration; (iv) in situ/online monitoring and data-driven closed-loop process control; (v) integrated additive/subtractive manufacturing, repair technologies and heterogeneous-material joining and (vi) reliability assessment and application validation for vacuum, cryogenic and irradiated environments. We look forward to driving breakthroughs in key processes and equipment for laser precision processing in aerospace and to further expanding its engineering application scope.

Dr. Congyi Wu
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • aerospace materials
  • laser processing equipment
  • laser polishing
  • laser cutting
  • laser drilling
  • process technology

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

17 pages, 5957 KB  
Article
Precision Cutting of CF/PEEK by UV Nanosecond Laser for On-Orbit Manufacturing Applications
by Wenqiang Wu, Bing Wei, Yu Huang and Congyi Wu
Micromachines 2026, 17(1), 93; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi17010093 - 11 Jan 2026
Viewed by 669
Abstract
On-orbit cutting is a critical process for the on-orbit manufacturing of carbon fiber reinforced polyetheretherketone composites (CF/PEEK) truss structures, with pulsed laser cutting serving as one of the feasible methods. Achieving high-quality cutting of CF/PEEK remains a major challenge for on-orbit manufacturing. Therefore, [...] Read more.
On-orbit cutting is a critical process for the on-orbit manufacturing of carbon fiber reinforced polyetheretherketone composites (CF/PEEK) truss structures, with pulsed laser cutting serving as one of the feasible methods. Achieving high-quality cutting of CF/PEEK remains a major challenge for on-orbit manufacturing. Therefore, the cutting process of CF/PEEK prepreg tape was studied by an ultraviolet (UV) nanosecond laser. A three-factor, five-level orthogonal experiment was carried out to analyze the influence of laser repetition rate (LRR), laser cutting speed (LCS), and laser scanning times (LCTs) on cutting quality. The ablation mechanism dominated by the photothermal effect between the UV nanosecond laser and CF/PEEK was analyzed, and the by-products in the cutting process were explored. Finally, the optimal cutting quality (the width of slit (Ws) = 41.69 ± 3.54 μm, the heat-affected zone (HAZ) = 87.27 ± 7.30 μm) was obtained under the process conditions of LRR 50 kHz-LCS 50 mm/s-LCT 16 times. The findings show that the WS and HAZ increase with the increase in LRR and LCT and the decrease in LCS, and the carbon fiber decomposes and escapes due to the photothermal effect. Full article
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