Laser technology, related to surface cleaning, has experienced an unprecedented advance, which has caused manufacturers to realize the importance and benefits that laser cleaning can bring.
From industries such as aerospace and automotive to industrial applications, laser cleaning has many uses that are still unknown to everyone.
Laser cleaning can replace traditional methods used to remove paints, oxides, rust… from metal surfaces more easily.
Emerging applications include mold cleaning, weld cleaning, tool cleaning and surface preparation.
The benefits of cleaning without consumables are many, here are some of them:
Avoid damaging the substrate
Pulsed laser beams suppress contaminants with a robustness never seen before, without damaging or embedding impurities in the base material. This technique offers better results compared to other techniques such as shot blasting or polishing.
Brushes and abrasives tend to damage surfaces (especially softer surfaces), and tend to produce less consistent and rapidly deteriorating results.
Reduce your environmental footprint
The use of lasers reduces the environmental impact, since they do not use chemical products or impact particles and therefore do not generate as much waste. They reduce environmental impacts related to pollution and contamination.
Facilitate work safety
The non-involvement of hazardous products such as abrasive media or chemical solvents means that the laser cleaning system can be installed in any space provided without the use of personal protective equipment.
However, to ensure greater safety, the laser must be installed in a safety enclosure and be equipped with a fume extraction system.
Reduce costs and maintenance
As it is a non-contact process, and no fuel needs to be replaced, the laser requires very low maintenance in its production lines.
These reasons make laser cleaning a cost-effective solution due to low maintenance costs and non-existent consumable costs.
Fiber laser cleaning removes rust and other corrosion inhibiting agents accurately and quickly, without damaging the base material. It is typically used as a pre-weld treatment to beautify the quality of the weld, or for coatings to prevent paint failure over time.
Laser oxide removal is used to clean metallic surfaces prior to any surface treatment, and more specifically prior to aluminum welding.
Laser rust removal is sometimes used to remove rust from stainless steel.
Laser Paint Removal, or also known as laser coating removal, vaporizes the various paints while leaving the surface underneath unaltered.
It is normally used, among others, to replace coating parts, to prepare areas to be welded, to recover parts with paint defects or to clean painting tools.
Laser cleaning can agitate surface contaminants leaving a light texture that increases adhesion. This is helpful if surfaces need to be made suitable for further processing such as bonding with an adhesive or painting.
At Sivart/SIC Marking, we have the capacity to offer customized solutions to each problem that arises, since we are one of the world leaders in industrial marking systems. According to the needs of each customer, we have:
If you have any questions, please contact us. At Sivart/SIC Marking we have all kinds of solutions to optimize the industrial marking of your products with high levels of quality and reliability.