Effects of surface micro-texturing laser-etching on adhesive property and failure behaviors of basalt fiber composite single-lap-joint

Laser-etching technology can perform micro-nano processing on the sub-surface of composite, thereby enhancing its mechanical interlocking to improve the adhesive performance. However, it can easily cause surface fiber damage and destroy the integrity of composite. Hence, the influences of surface micro-texturing and laser-etching effect on the adhesive property and failure behaviors of basalt fiber reinforced polymer (BFRP) composite single-lap-joint are investigated. Here, different surface micro-texturing of BFRP with different laser-etching power and line space are processed by laser-etching. The surface morphology and wetting property of experimental samples are characterized, and single lap tests are conducted to evaluate the adhesive properties. Results show that the adhesive property firstly increases and then decreases with the laser power increase, where the samples etched with 10 W and line space of 0.1 mm perform the best. It is found that the epoxy on the surface is removed by laser-etching to improve the contact area, but the fiber damage is formed to affect the adhesive property. When the laser-etching reaches a certain depth in spite of fiber damage, it can achieve the best bonding performance with the balance of performance and structural integrity. Finally, the multi-scale simulations are conducted to effectively demonstrate the laser-etched interface bonding behavior and damage evolution process of BFRP single lap joints.