How Lasertronics Technology Works
Since lasers were invented, one of the promising applications has been stripping coatings from surfaces.
Concentrated laser energy does a terrific job of “ablating” coatings cleanly by quickly heating the coating material to the point of chemical dissociation. If the laser can “see” a coated surface, it can strip the coating, regardless of the complexity of the surface. The obstacle to laser ablation has been that any laser powerful enough to strip coatings quickly is also powerful enough to damage substrates.
Lasertronics set out in the late 1990s to design a color-sensing workhead to selectively ablate only a particular color of coating. This unique color-selective workhead forms the core of Lasertronics’ product line.
The unique optical detector in our workhead interrogates the surface before each laser pulse. It allows the pulse to proceed only if the color to be stripped is still present. When that color is no longer detected, the laser is instantly suppressed. When the moving workhead once again finds that color, the laser is re-enabled.
This unique Lasertronics feature completely prevents damage to any substrate. This allows use on delicate materials such as aircraft skins, and metals where surface hardening is unacceptable, such as warship hulls.
In addition to paints, our system quickly strips sealants and anti-erosion coatings. Both categories of coatings can be particularly troublesome to remove by conventional means.
The Lasertronic system also quickly strips surface corrosion. Our laser excites the oxygen in the corrosion layer, popping the oxide off the native metal. If the corrosion has not already damaged the surface, this ablation returns the surface to its virgin condition. So, the same machine that strips coatings also removes rust.
The simplest version of our technology consists of a single color-selective workhead with air purge system, designed to be used by a human operator. One of these systems was installed at the Navy’s Pax River base for use on the Presidential helicopter fleet.
More complex installations involve multi-laser, robotically controlled systems that automatically strip complex surfaces such as helicopter rotor blades. One of these systems is in use at the US Navy’s Fleet Readiness Center – East in Cherry Point, NC.
More information and photographs of both systems appear on our main Products page.
