Corrosion Removal
Laser ablation removes corrosion fast, even faster than it removes paints or sealants. The oxygen entrapped in any corrosion preferentially absorbs the laser’s photonic energy. The corrosion pops cleanly off the substrate, leaving behind the virgin surface, ready to accept fresh coatings.
Conventional methods of corrosion removal rely on chemical stripping, mechanical abrasion, and media blast. These processes are slow and difficult, and generate waste streams, often toxic, that require careful disposal. And some phases of these processes require skilled craftsmen for proper execution.
These processes are slow, filled with opportunities for error, and expensive.
Lasertronics photonic ablation is a game changer.
- Concentrated laser energy focused into the corrosion causes it to quickly pop off the substrate.
- Lasertronics’ closed-loop control ensures that the substrate remains untouched. There is no physical, structural, or chemical change. This protective capability enabled the FAA to approve the process for stripping paint off delicate aircraft skins. All the laser energy is absorbed in the surface layer of paint or corrosion.
- Because the substrate is unaffected, the laser can be used to strip any corroded material: sheet steel, structural steel, other metals.
- The same laser can remove both corrosion and paint. Closed-loop control allows selective layer-by-layer removal. One tool does it all.
- Closed-loop control ensures protection of substrate, enabling use on delicate substances such as composites, fiberglass, plastic, glass, or rubber.
- The corrosion and any coating material is captured by a purge air system, and sequestered in a HEPA filter for easy, cheap disposal. No contaminated chemicals or media.