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Click to view video & images Laser Cleaning & Surface PreparationCertain industries and applications have very strict criteria for cleaning and surface preparation. In the nuclear industry, it is vital to minimise the generation of radioactive waste in any cleaning process. In the aviation industry, paint removal from aircraft prior to re-painting must avoid producing toxic chemicals and damaging window seals and other critical parts. Pharmaceutical and food processing companies often need to avoid the production of secondary waste altogether. The answer for these demanding applications is laser cleaning. Tube Tech has sourced hardware from the world’s leading manufacturer of laser cleaning equipment to solve these challenges by adding laser cleaning and surface preparation to its technology portfolio. Laser cleaning works by ablation: the coating layer is removed as it absorbs the focused laser light. Very powerful but short laser pulses have little thermal influence on the base material. The blank base material reflects laser radiation, stopping the ablation process. With the ‘correct’ laser parameter and ‘best’ wavelength, metals being de-coated cannot be damaged or melted. There are two physical effects to the process: the coating layer is vaporised (ablation by sublimation) and removed by thermally-induced pressure. Laser coating is ideally suited to reflective or transmissive substrates, such as metal or concrete.
The highest degree of contamination is found in the top layers (e.g. corrosion, oxides, dust and paint etc.), so top down removal is ideal for surface coatings.
Laser cleaning offers excellent and fast cleaning results, with: Laser cleaning also offers important environmental and economical benefits: |
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