Laser Paint Stripping, Laser Cleaning and Coating Removal Solutions

Products Overview

We offer both manually operated and robotic systems in a variety of configurations to meet your specific needs.

Manual Systems
Our manual system puts a flexible color-selective laser stripping workhead in the hands of the operator. The workhead weighs about two pounds (one kilogram) and moves easily at the end of its 150 foot (50 meter) umbilical cord.

Moving the workhead over the area to be stripped delivers quick ablation of any paint, coating, or corrosion on the surface. The operator can watch the coating disappear, and can hear micro-popping as the superheated coating jumps off the cool surface. This visual and aural feedback helps the operator keep the workhead at the correct distance from the surface, while closed-loop control of the laser prevents any damage to the substrate.

This photo shows one variant of the Lasertronics operator-controlled system. The tan unit on the left is a chiller that maintains proper operating temperature within the laser. The gray unit on the right houses the laser and our color-selective electronics. The man is holding the workhead, which is connected to the laser via the orange umbilical cable.

This system does not require construction of dedicated buildings, enclosures, cages, ventilation systems, or screens. The system operates on 480 volt, three-phase power, and draws 30 to 35 amps; these specifications are common for industrial electrical systems. The operator must wear protective eyewear designed for work around lasers.

 

Automated (Robotic) Systems

Lasertronics’ robotic systems include the Automatic Rotor Blade Stripping System (ARBSS) and the Robotic Automated Coatings Removal System (RACRS).

The Automatic Rotor Blade Stripping System (ARBSS) combines the closed loop color control laser work head with an industrial robotic system. It employs three color-selective lasers that operate simultaneously and automatically to strip rotor blades. Once the rotor blade is secured in the fixture, the system requires no human intervention or observation. The ARBSS (shown, right) was installed at the Navy’s Fleet Readiness Center-East (FRC-East) at Cherry Point, NC, in 2009. It was designed to strip coatings from rotor blades of H-53 and H-60 helicopters used by the US Navy and US Marine Corps.

The ARBSS won the 2009 Maintenance Excellence Award from the Office of the Secretary of Defense, and the 2010 Defense Manufacturing Excellence Award from the Aerospace Industries Association.

This system reduces time-to-strip by 90% for the H-53 rotor blade stripping facility at the Navy’s Fleet Readiness Center–East, from about 24 hours (using manual labor and rotary sanders) to about 2 hours per blade with ARBSS.

The Robotic Automated Coatings Removal System (RACRS, currently under development) extends this concept to automatically stripping an entire aircraft. The initial system is designed to strip the Navy’s V-22 Osprey, but can be extended to other airframes.