Laser Paint Removal Application for the Aviation Industry

The use of lasers for paint and coating removal applications is helping the aviation industry decrease costs.
CleanTech Product Line

​Fonon Corporation introduces the CleanTech product line for paint and coating removal applications for the aviation industry. The use of lasers for paint and coating removal applications is helping the aviation industry decrease costs.  Current methods of removing coatings may involve environmentally-unfriendly chemicals, the release of contaminates, or may be time-intensive.

Laser stripping or coating removal can be applied to a variety of substrates, including metal, composites, plastics, and glass. Laser surface cleaning systems work by aiming a powerful high-pulsed laser at a painted or coated surface. This energy disintegrates the existing coating layer and effectively removes it from the substrate.

Applications

Laser systems may remove paint, primer, adhesive, and an abradable coating. Industrial paint and coatings may be used for a variety of applications in the aviation industry including:

•              Airport facilities

•              Aircraft parts such as flaps, backlit buttons, or ailerons

•              Aircraft stripping from corporate jets to commercial and military aircraft

•              Helicopter rotor blade maintenance

•              Metal buildings

•              Garage floors and other non-slip surfaces

•              Ground vehicle and vehicle parts stripping

•              Tank linings

Laser Cleaning Process in Aviation

Advantages of lasers over conventional stripping methods include improvements in energy efficiency and consumption, ease of use, and minimal maintenance costs resulting in long-term ROI.

There are also minimal health hazards since there are no emissions or waste other than the coating residue removed by the vacuum system. Therefore, waste disposal costs are significantly decreased and emission standards can be met with reduced regulatory compliance, decreasing capital and operating costs. Additionally, the laser ablation process can selectively remove single layers or multiple layers depending on the needs. The precise control removes layers down to the unaffected substrate below and eliminates the need for masking difficult partial coatings.

Composite parts cannot be stripped by many chemical methods. Parts need to be stripped manually, leaving issues with damage and time expenditures. This is a major disadvantage to the aviation industry that can be aided by the laser cleaning system.

Finally, worker time spent on the process is diminished, increasing the aircraft and facility availability.

Our Technologies

Made in America, Laser Photonics’ CleanTech is the answer to safely and efficiently removing and cleaning surfaces with impressive results. Included in the industrial-grade Class 1 product line are the CleanTech Stationary Unit which operates as a standalone or can easily be integrated into a production line; and the CleanTech Handheld which is a portable unit, making it useful in the field or on the facility floor. CleanTech has an integrated dust and residue collection system and can allow for a 3D scanner option to clean parts with complicated shapes. To learn more, visit http://www.laserphotonics.us/

About Fonon

Fonon Corporation is a laser-based R&D and manufacturing company, based in the United States that provides comprehensive design and equipment to numerous industries worldwide including aerospace, automotive, defense, energy, food and beverage, industrial, medical, and semiconductor. Laser Photonics™, a Fonon brand, is the industry’s recognized #1 brand of industrial-grade fiber and CO2 laser equipment for marking, cutting, engraving, and surface cleaning or preparation. 

Fonon customers include Sony, NIKE, 3M, Delphi, NNSY-Norfolk Naval Shipyard, NASA, Cannon Air Force Base, Eaton Aerospace, GE, Caterpillar, Harley Davidson, PPG, Eli Lilly, Smith and Nephew, Millipore, DuPont, Bosch, Gables Engineering, Champion Aerospace, Smith Aerospace, Metaldyne, Dupont and Heraeus.

For more information about Fonon, visit www.fonon.com.

Source: Fonon Corporation

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