Do You Know About Laser Cleaning? - Industry News

What is laser cleaning?

Laser cleaning technology is a cleaning solution that uses high-frequency short-pulse lasers as the working medium. The high-energy light beam with a specific wavelength is absorbed by the rust layer, paint layer, and pollution layer, forming a rapidly expanding plasma, and at the same time generating a shock wave, the shock wave makes the pollutants into fragments and is removed. The substrate also does not absorb energy, damage the surface of the object being cleaned, or degrade its surface finish.

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Do you know the feature of laser cleaning machine?

Compared with ordinary chemical cleaning methods and mechanical cleaning methods, laser cleaning has the following features:

1. It is a completely "dry" cleaning process that does not require the use of cleaning fluid or other chemical solutions. It is a "green" cleaning process, and its cleanliness is much higher than that of chemical cleaning processes;

2. The range of cleaning objects is very wide. This method can be used for cleaning from large blocky dirt (such as fingerprints, rust spots, oil stains, paint) to small fine particles (such as metal ultrafine particles, dust);

3. Laser cleaning is suitable for almost all solid substrates, and in many cases can only remove dirt without damaging the substrate;

4. Laser cleaning can be easily automated, and optical fibers can also be used to introduce laser into the contaminated area. The operator only needs to operate remotely from a distance, which is very safe and convenient. This is suitable for some special applications, such as rust removal of nuclear reactor condenser tubes, etc. is of great significance.

The type, power and wavelength of the laser used for laser cleaning should vary depending on the composition and form of the material to be cleaned. The current typical equipment is mainly YAG laser and excimer laser. It is worth mentioning that the laser derusting process is used on the steel surface. By selecting appropriate process parameters, the surface of the substrate can be slightly melted while derusting, forming a uniform and dense corrosion-resistant layer, so that derusting and anti-corrosion complete in one step. The laser cleaning process has been initially applied in industry.

The market prospect of laser cleaning machine is broad, and the application advantages of various industries are obvious

Both daily-use industrial products and professional industrial products use one or several technologies and processes in surface treatment technology to achieve the functions required by product design or market. In the process of electroplating, phosphating, spraying, welding, packaging and integrated circuit assembly of industrial products, grease, dust, rust and residual solvents, adhesives and other dirt on the surface must be removed to ensure the quality of the next process . The current cleaning methods widely used in the cleaning industry include mechanical cleaning, chemical cleaning and ultrasonic cleaning, but their application is greatly restricted under the constraints of environmental protection and the requirements of the high-precision market. Laser cleaning machines have obvious advantages in the application of various industries.

1. Mold cleaning

Tire manufacturers around the world manufacture hundreds of millions of tires every year, and the cleaning of tire molds must be fast and reliable during the production process to save downtime. Traditional cleaning methods include sand blasting, ultrasonic or carbon dioxide cleaning, etc., but these methods usually have to cool the high-heat mold for several hours before moving it to the cleaning equipment for cleaning, which takes a long time to clean and easily damages the precision of the mold , chemical solvents and noise will also produce safety and environmental issues.

Using the laser cleaning method, because the laser can be transmitted by optical fiber, it is very flexible in use; because the laser cleaning method can be connected by optical fiber to guide the light to the dead corner of the mold or the part that is not easy to remove for cleaning, it is easy to use; No gasification, so no toxic gas will be produced, affecting the safety of the working environment.

2. Cleaning of weapons and equipment

Laser cleaning technology is widely used in weapon maintenance. The laser cleaning system can remove rust and pollutants efficiently and quickly, and can select the cleaning part to realize the automation of cleaning. Using laser cleaning, not only the cleanliness is higher than the chemical cleaning process, but also has almost no damage to the surface of the object.

By setting different parameters, a dense oxide protective film or molten metal layer can be formed on the surface of metal objects to improve surface strength and corrosion resistance. The waste material removed by the laser basically does not pollute the environment, and it can also be operated remotely, which effectively reduces the health damage to the operators.

3. Cleaning of old aircraft paint

Laser cleaning systems have long been used in the aviation industry in Europe. The surface of the aircraft needs to be repainted after a certain period of time, but the original old paint needs to be completely removed before painting. The traditional mechanical paint removal method is easy to cause damage to the metal surface of the aircraft, which brings hidden dangers to safe flight. If multiple laser cleaning equipment are used, the paint layer on the surface of an A320 Airbus can be completely removed within two days without damaging the metal surface.

4. Cleaning of building exterior walls

With the rapid development of our country's economy, more and more skyscrapers are built, and the cleaning problem of the outer walls of the buildings is becoming more and more prominent. The laser cleaning system provides a good solution for cleaning the outer walls of buildings through optical fibers. It can Effectively clean all kinds of pollutants on various stone, metal and glass, and the efficiency is many times higher than conventional cleaning. It can also remove black spots and color spots on various stone materials of buildings.

5. Cleaning in the electronics industry

The electronics industry uses lasers to remove oxides: The electronics industry requires high-precision decontamination, and it is especially suitable for lasers to remove oxides. Before the circuit board is soldered, the component pins must be completely deoxidized to ensure the best electrical contact, and the pins must not be damaged during the decontamination process. Laser cleaning can meet the requirements of use, and the efficiency is very high. One stitch only needs to be irradiated with laser once.

6. Accurate degreasing and cleaning in the precision instrument industry

The precision machinery industry often needs to remove esters and mineral oils used for lubrication and anti-corrosion on parts, usually by chemical methods, and chemical cleaning often still has residues. Laser degreasing can completely remove esters and mineral oil without damaging the surface of parts. The removal of pollutants is accomplished by shock waves, and the explosive gasification of a thin layer of oxide on the surface of the parts forms a shock wave, resulting in the removal of dirt rather than mechanical interaction. The material is completely deesterified and used for the cleaning of mechanical parts in the aerospace industry. Laser cleaning can also be used to remove oil and grease in the processing of mechanical parts.

7. Pipeline cleaning in nuclear power plant reactor

The laser cleaning system is also used in the cleaning of pipes in nuclear power plant reactors. It uses optical fibers to introduce high-power laser beams into the reactor to directly remove radioactive dust, and the cleaned materials are easy to clean. And because it is operated remotely, the safety of the staff can be ensured.

8. Cleaning and protection of cultural relics

Internationally, laser cultural relic cleaning and protection technology has been widely used in the cleaning and protection of museum cultural relics and buildings. Many examples prove that laser cleaning is an effective means of cleaning cultural relics and paintings. The mechanism of washing is based on the effect of cold ablation, which breaks bonds, with little or negligible thermal influence. No thermal damage to the artwork itself.