Aeronautic: Laser Cleaning Solutions for the Aeronautic Industry

Aerospace is one of the most regulated industries in the world. As a result, maintenance is frequent, and all aspects of the aircraft must be inspected thoroughly. Laser cleaning is a fantastic solution for decorating parts and entire planes! Given that laser cleaning is a non-abrasive and non-contact process, structural integrity is not compromised. The surface will most likely retain its original profile and be ready for paint after inspection. Laser cleaning systems can also be used to degrease a surface, remove oxidation and rust, remove carbon deposits from turbines, and generally clean any metallic component.

The operating costs of our PhotonClean laser systems are significantly lower than those of conventional processes. Although the equipment is sometimes more expensive than other systems, it pays for itself faster, since it has almost no maintenance costs and has a long useful life. The process is comfortable compared to other processes.

Aircraft Decoating by Laser

Airplane Paint Stripping by Laser

Airplane Paint Stripping by Laser

Aircraft Decoating by Laser

Laser cleaning systems are highly efficient at removing impurities on a material, but the process is not restorative and cannot repair defects that are close to the substrate surface. However, the removal of bulk surface material allows for the inspection of the components after cleaning. This is particularly important for component-critical industries, such as aerospace, where small defects can have catastrophic implications.

As there is no need for a secondary process to remove cleaning media, the inspection can occur either during the cleaning process or immediately after the cleaning process.

Lasers are used in the aerospace industry to remove paint coatings or impurities. The process to remove impurities is a challenging task, and lasers have minimal impact on substrates and leave no residue behind. For the cleaning process, both handled and standalone lasers are used for a wide range of commercial and non-commercial aircraft.

Laser coating removal (LCM) Machine for Aircrafts

It is common knowledge that aircraft are frequently paint-stripped for inspection, maintenance, and non-destructive evaluation work. Moreover, military aircraft are paint-stripped and repainted for survivability (visual appearance, infrared signature), corrosion protection, appearance, and durability. Aircraft maintainers have traditionally used hazardous chemicals and waste-generating processes to perform surface cleaning and coating removal. Currently, removing coatings requires not only the use of hazardous materials; it also generates large amounts of hazardous waste and poses a significant occupational health risk for workers.

Due to increasing restrictions and safety concerns regarding these processes, the time is rapidly running out for the use of these conventional methods, and environmentally acceptable alternatives are being investigated urgently.

Here is laser cleaning: a perfectly acceptable and ecological solution that is already widely used worldwide in the aviation maintenance business.

Stripping paint and other coatings from full-body aircraft is required multiple times over the course of an aircraft's lifespan. Traditionally, coating removal processes are costly, time-consuming, and potentially hazardous to workers and to the environment. That job has now been made more efficient with our LASERSWIPE laser cleaning machines.

The benefits of reducing waste and hazardous materials should also be highlighted when using Lasers for stripping paint: reducing waste and finding an alternative to chemical and abrasive paint stripping is “smart business”. The following list highlights the benefits and cost advantage of cutting waste and switching to the laser method:

Improved working environment
Reduced regulatory compliance
Savings on disposal costs

Why do we have to investigate alternative solutions to chemical and mechanical paint removal from aircraft?

The list of negatives concerning chemical depainting is long, including:

The requirement to mask sensitive areas of the fuselage before chemical application.
The requirement for personal protective equipment to handle the chemicals.
Large water usage to rinse chemicals from aircraft;
Large multiplication of hazardous waste volume;
Release of carcinogenic hexavalent chromium primer into the waste stream.
Personnel exposure to hazardous chemicals;
The inability to use on aircraft wings because of chemical ingress.
The requirement to de-mask before painting, and
The cost of hazardous waste disposal.

Additionally, the requirement that manual sanding be performed on sensitive wing areas brings with it another set of problems, including a high frequency of operator repetitive injuries, operator exposure to hexavalent chrome, the potential for damage to aircraft wing surfaces, and the lack of qualified operators.

It is no surprise that alternatives to these depainting methods have been sought for many years. Now, laser paint stripping is finally emerging as a credible solution to replace the hazardous, environmentally unfriendly, chemical, and mechanical paint stripping methods that dominate aircraft depainting today. And, surprisingly, the boldest new initiative in laser paint stripping is being spearheaded by private industry.

PAINT STRIPPING ON LARGE SURFACES

Airplane Paint Stripping By laser - State-of-the-art coating removal

Lasermach PhotonClean portable systems are designed to remove paint from metal structures, such as ships, bridges, airplanes, helicopters, rockets, torpedoes, power transmission towers, and large equipment. The laser process can be used to remove weathered top coat finishes, enabling fresh new coatings to be applied over suitable base coat layers. A laser-depainted steel surface is completely clean and ideal for repainting.

Lasermach offers high-performance, high-power laser units developed especially for large-area applications. Robust and reliable portable lasers… designed to go where the work is…in the plant, in the field, or at sea.