200W pulse cleaning Derusting What is laser cleaning?

Laser cleaning, a form of laser ablation, is a method that uses laser energy to remove layers of selective material from the surface. The laser cleaning process uses photon energy to strip, vaporize, sublimate, or burn off unwanted waste without harming the underlying bulk material.

In most laser materials processing applications, the focused beam will form a relatively small spot on the target material. Laser cleaning is no exception, although its use is usually relatively wide. Laser cleaning uses a technique called laser scanning, which quickly guides or “scans” a laser beam along a path or over a larger area. This means that the laser only interacts with the target material for a fraction of a second at a time.

How does laser cleaning work?

The purpose of laser cleaning is to remove surface material without damaging the underlying material. While the laser can cut steel plates several inches thick, the cleaning job requires a lighter touch and knowledge of the ablation threshold. Each material has an ablation threshold, which effectively defines the amount of energy required to vaporize the material. Keep below the threshold and the bulk material is not damaged. However, if the threshold is exceeded even once, bulk materials will be affected.

Fortunately, most manufacturers have low ablation thresholds for materials that need to be removed, such as rust, oil, and coatings, compared to metals such as steel and aluminum. However, careful tuning of laser parameters such as wavelength and pulse energy is still required to avoid damage to the substrate. Precise control of spot size and shape also helps to minimize overlap during beam scanning, thus improving the efficiency of laser cleaning.

What are the advantages of laser cleaning?

Laser cleaning has seen a surge in adoption across industries due to its numerous advantages over conventional material removal methods.

Non-contact: Laser cleaning is a remote process. In other words, the source of the laser beam can be operated from inches or even feet away. This makes the cleaning process more flexible and avoids surface damage caused by grinding methods.

Highly selective: The laser is relatively accurate, and the emission accuracy is almost zero. Thus, the laser cleans only the desired area regardless of its size or shape. This saves extra steps such as shading.

High speed: Laser cleaning is a high-speed process that can clean hundreds of square inches of material per second. The laser can clean more than 10,000 square feet of material per hour. The specific material removal rate depends on the laser parameters and material properties.

Safety: Laser cleaning eliminates the use of abrasive materials or chemical solvents, thereby reducing noise and avoiding exposure to dust and harmful substances. Any steam generated during the cleaning process can be easily removed by the smoke extraction system.

Sustainability: As a media-free process, laser cleaning requires no treatment or disposal of materials. In addition, the laser system consumes less energy and significantly reduces the CO 2 emissions associated with the transport and disposal of clean media and chemicals.

Cost effective: Laser cleaning solutions require less material handling, floor space, energy and maintenance, have a long service life and are cost-effective, especially in the long term.