Laser cleaning technology refers to the cleaning method that the nanosecond or picosecond pulsed laser is used to irradiate the workpiece surface to be cleaned, so that the workpiece surface absorbs focused laser energy in an instant and forms rapidly expanding plasmas (highly ionized unstable gas), gasifying or peeling off the oil, rust spots, dust, coating, oxide layer or film on the surface, and efficiently removing the surface attachments.
Applicable base materials
In the sector of industrial application, the objects of laser cleaning are divided into two parts: base materials and cleaning materials. Base materials mainly include the surface contamination layer of various materials such as metal, semiconductor chips, ceramic, magnetic materials, plastic and optical parts. Cleaning materials mainly include a wide range of application demands for removal of rust, painting, oil, film/ oxide layer, and cleaning of resin, glue and dust in the industrial sector.
Advantages of laser cleaning
At present, the cleaning methods widely used in the cleaning industry include the mechanical cleaning, chemical cleaning and ultrasonic cleaning. However, their application is limited to a great extent under the constraints of environmental protection and the requirements of the high-precision market. The laser cleaning machine has obvious application advantages in various sectors.
1) Automated production line: The laser cleaning machine may achieve remote cleaning control by integrating with CNC machine tools or robots, realize automation of equipment, form product assembly line operation and intelligent operation.
2) Accurate positioning: The laser is transmitted and guided with the optical fiber to make it flexible, and fulfill high-speed movement of light spot through the built-in scanning vibrating mirrors, for the convenience of non-contact laser cleaning of corner locations of irregular parts, holes and grooves that are difficult to clean for the traditional cleaning methods.
3) No damage: Short-time impact will not heat the metal surface and do no damage to the base materials.
4) Good stability: The pulsed laser adopted in the laser cleaning machine has an ultra-long service life, usually up to 100,000 hours, and also has stable quality and good reliability.
5) No environmental pollution: No chemical cleaning agents is needed in cleaning; thus, no cleaning waste liquid will be produced. The pollutant particles and gases produced in the process of laser cleaning may be simply collected and purified through the portable exhaust fans, so as to avoid environmental pollution.
6) Low maintenance cost: No consumables will be consumed in using the laser cleaning machine, and the operation cost is low. Later, only the lenses need to be cleaned or replaced, with a low maintenance cost, which is close to maintenance-free.
Application industries
The typical applications of laser cleaning include mold cleaning, removal of industrial rust, old paint and films, pre-welding pretreatment and post-welding treatment, ester removal of precision parts, decontamination and removal of the oxide layer of electronic components, cleaning of cultural relics, etc. It is widely used in metallurgy, mold, automobile, hardware tools, transportation, building, home appliances, machinery and other industries.
