In the 1960s, lasers were invented. In the 1980s, laser cleaning technology began to appear. In the past 40 years, laser cleaning technology has developed rapidly. In today’s industrial production and material science, laser cleaning technology is indispensable.

Laser cleaning technology is the process of using laser beam to irradiate the surface of the work-piece, making the surface dirt, rust coating peel off or vaporize, cleaning the surface of the work-piece to achieve the purpose. The mechanism of laser cleaning has not been unified and clear, but the thermal effect and vibration effect of laser are more recognized: the beam emitted by laser is absorbed by the pollutant layer on the surface to be treated. The absorption of large energy forms a rapidly expanding plasma (highly ionized unstable gas), which produces shock wave. The shock wave causes the pollutants to fragment and be removed.

Defects of traditional industrial cleaning

1. Mechanical friction cleaning: high cleanliness, but easy to damage the substrate;

2. Chemical corrosion cleaning: no stress effect, but serious pollution;

3. Liquid solid jet cleaning: stress free, high flexibility, high cost and complex waste liquid treatment;

4. High frequency ultrasonic cleaning: the cleaning effect is good, but the cleaning size is limited, and the cleaned work-piece needs to be dry

Comparison of Advantages of Laser Cleaning

1. Advantages of Environmental Protection

Laser cleaning is a “green” cleaning method, without the use of any chemicals and cleaning solution, the waste is basically solid powder, small volume, easy to store, recyclable, no photo-chemical reaction, no pollution. It can easily solve the problem of environmental pollution caused by chemical cleaning. Often an exhaust fan can solve the problem of waste generated by cleaning.

2. Effect Advantage

The traditional cleaning method is often contact cleaning, which has mechanical force on the surface of the object to be cleaned, damages the surface of the object or the cleaning medium adheres to the surface of the object to be cleaned, which cannot be removed and causes secondary pollution. The non grinding, non-contact and non thermal effect of laser cleaning should not damage the substrate, so these problems can be solved easily.

3. Control Advantages

Laser can be transmitted through optical fiber, cooperate with manipulator and robot, realize remote operation conveniently, and can clean the parts that are not easy to reach by traditional methods, which can be used in some dangerous places to ensure the safety of personnel.

4 Convenient Advantages

Laser cleaning can remove all kinds of pollutants on the surface of various materials, and achieve the cleanliness that conventional cleaning can not achieve. It can also selectively clean the pollutants on the surface of the material without damaging the surface of the material.

5. Cost Advantage

Laser cleaning is fast, efficient and time-saving; Although the one-time investment in the early purchase of laser cleaning system is high, the cleaning system can be used stably for a long time with low operation cost, and more importantly, it can realize automatic operation conveniently. Cost calculation: the cleaning efficiency of a single unit is 8 square meters, and the operation cost is about 5 kw per hour, that is, the cleaning cost is 40 cents per square meter, excluding the initial cost, the later cost is 40 cents per square meter.

6 Technical Advantages

Clean or remove the surface paint layer quickly and smoothly;

Accurate cleaning and paint removal effect;

No damage to the substrate;

Low cost;

Fast investment recovery;

No need for sand blasting or chemicals;

No erection time is required for equipment use;

No noise;

There is little need for maintenance.

Application of laser cleaning

As a new cleaning technology, laser cleaning has many advantages, such as environmental protection, high efficiency and so on. It is one of the main development directions of today’s laser technology, and has a wide application prospect. It has been well applied in aerospace, shipbuilding, rail transit, automobile manufacturing, steel manufacturing, electronic industry, medical treatment and cultural relic restoration.

Aerospace Industry

Laser cleaning of aluminum alloy before and after welding; Laser cleaning of titanium alloy before and after welding; Aircraft radar layer repair laser cleaning

Shipbuilding Industry

Laser cleaning before and after welding in shipbuilding; Laser cleaning of surface before coating; Ship maintenance training

Rail transit industry

Stainless steel train manufacturing laser cleaning; Laser cleaning for aluminum alloy train manufacturing; Maintenance and cleaning of rail transit equipment

Automobile manufacturing industry

Laser cleaning of galvanized sheet before welding; Laser cleaning of aluminum alloy before and after welding

Steel manufacturing industry

Laser de-rusting of steel surface; Laser de-rusting of cold rolled sheet surface

Electronic industry

Electronic board oxide layer cleaning; Cleaning of electronic component joint before welding

 

Chihalo, the No. 1 OEM Manufacturer of Laser Cleaning Machine