Laser cleaning technology is increasingly being used as an alternative to conventional cleaning methods due to its advantages. The extensive parameterization of laser devices enables versatile, selective, and non-invasive surface cleaning.
Laser cleaning utilizes the phenomenon of laser ablation, which involves the evaporation of surface particles of the material. For the process of ablation to occur, several events must take place. Photons emitted by the laser source move in one direction, possess the same energy, and wavelength. This allows for precise directing of the energy emitted by the laser source onto the surface of the processed material.
Ultra-short, high-energy laser pulses almost instantly transfer energy to the material surface sufficient to exceed a critical value known as the ablation threshold. This causes the breaking of bonds between atoms of the material, consequently detaching them from its surface. This phenomenon is called laser ablation. It occurs when the material transitions directly from a solid state to a gaseous state, bypassing the liquid phase, i.e., sublimation. During this process, a large number of diverse elements previously present on the material's surface, such as individual atoms or entire detached particles, are dispersed above the material's surface.
The detached particles from the cleaned material surface form a cloud. Within it, through continuous irradiation by laser light, plasma is generated, transferring additional heat into the material's depth. This allows for even more effective execution of the laser cleaning process.
Laser cleaning is increasingly used as an alternative to conventional cleaning methods due to its advantages. The extensive parameterization of laser devices enables versatile, selective, and non-invasive surface cleaning.
Currently, in the industry, many mechanical and chemical methods are used to remove paint coatings applied by conventional, machine-based, immersion, or spray methods. Depending on the thickness and type of the coating, the following are employed:
All these technologies have numerous limitations, including the need for usage in specially adapted environments, the generation of significant waste, or high power consumption. These technologies can also be too invasive for certain substrates or environmentally hazardous. A superb alternative to these methods is surface cleaning using laser radiation. It's a technology gaining recognition and increasingly utilized in the industry.