How to choose a suitable laser cleaning machine

With the rapid development of laser cleaning technology, it has gradually entered people's lives due to its unique advantages such as low damage to the substrate material, high cleaning accuracy, zero emissions, and no pollution. There is no doubt that applying laser cleaning technology to the cleaning of dirt on metal surfaces has a very broad prospect. But currently, the prices of laser cleaning machines on the market range from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands. It is very necessary to choose a laser cleaning machine that suits oneself.

1. What is a laser cleaning machine
Laser cleaning machines are dedicated to cleaning and protecting equipment in need. Laser cleaning technology is a "green" cleaning process that does not require the use of any chemical agents or cleaning solutions. The waste cleaned is mostly solid powder, small in volume, easy to store, and recyclable, which can easily solve the environmental pollution problems caused by chemical cleaning.

According to a large number of experimental results analysis, laser cleaning machines vary depending on the difference in thermal and physical parameters between surface attachments and substrates:
When there is a significant difference in the thermal and physical parameters between the surface attachments and the substrate material, laser cleaning machines include ablation vaporization, thermal vibration and shock machines, and acoustic wave crushers, such as laser cleaning paint and rubber layers.

When the thermal and physical parameters of the surface attachment and the substrate material are not significantly different, it is mainly due to the action of the ablative vaporizer, such as laser rust removal.

2. Application of laser cleaning machine
At present, laser cleaning technology has been applied in various fields such as military industry, mold cleaning, surface treatment, microelectronics, cultural relic protection, medical care, and automotive processing.

2.1 Military Applications
In the field of aerospace, American scientists proposed using lasers to remove paint from military aircraft and conducted related research. Currently, it has been successfully applied to the complete paint removal of F16 fighter jets. The laser paint stripping process does not require consumables and has low equipment operating costs. Provided safety and quality assurance for aircraft maintenance. By using multiple laser cleaning systems, the paint layer on the surface of an A320 Airbus can be completely removed within two days without damaging the metal surface.

Laser cleaning can improve the efficiency of equipment maintenance and manufacturing in military equipment, reduce surface oxidation of weapons and ammunition, and provide strong support for military equipment and combat effectiveness.

2.2 Industrial Applications
During the use of tire molds, they are inevitably contaminated by the comprehensive deposition of rubber, compounding agents, and release agents, resulting in problems such as carbon deposition, adhesion, and difficulty in demolding, causing pattern pollution dead zones that affect the life of the mold and tire quality.

Laser cleaning technology can not only improve the cleaning method of tire molds and effectively remove residual impurities on their surfaces, but also enhance the surface performance of tires, indirectly improving the quality of tire production.

According to the cleaning test conducted on the tire company's production line using laser cleaning equipment, it only takes 2 hours to clean a set of large heavy-duty tire molds online; Compared with conventional cleaning methods, the economic benefits are obvious.

The application of laser cleaning technology in industry has greatly improved the carbon removal effect and welding process quality. It can efficiently clean carbon deposits on different substrate surfaces, reduce welding defects, and enhance the weldability of materials; At the same time, it can also save production costs for enterprises and improve their production efficiency.

2.3 Other Applications
The electronics industry uses lasers to remove oxides. Before soldering the circuit board, the pins of the components must be thoroughly de oxidized to ensure optimal electrical contact, and the pins must not be damaged while cleaning. Laser cleaning can meet the requirements of use and is highly efficient, with only one laser irradiation required for each pin.

The application of laser cleaning for cultural relics, handicrafts, and buildings has been very extensive. In Europe, people have cleaned various buildings, such as the Martyrs' Tomb in Poland and the Western Executive Palace in London. However, not all cultural relics can be cleaned by laser, such as colorful handicrafts. Due to the different absorption spectra of laser caused by different colors, the absorbed energy varies, resulting in damage to the parts with high energy absorption.

3. Price of laser cleaning machine
It is difficult to have a fixed price for laser cleaning machines because they are usually customized. Generally speaking, the price of a laser cleaning machine is related to its power, and the higher the laser power, the more expensive the price. But when purchasing a laser cleaning machine, it is still necessary to meet one's specific needs, such as simple cleaning of floating rust. Low power laser cleaning machines can meet this, while high-power laser cleaning machines may even cause damage to the workpiece.

In order to achieve the best cleaning effect on the corresponding substrate to be cleaned, it is usually necessary to adjust the corresponding parameters such as fiber length, field lens depth of focus, output power, pulse width, and scanning speed according to the characteristics of different substrates.

The composite laser cleaning machine with a power of over 8000W used for paint removal of large equipment such as aerospace, ship and high-speed rail generally needs to be redesigned and manufactured according to the customer's equipment site, usage environment and other conditions, and the price is often determined after on-site calculation.

4. Scope of laser cleaning machine
Laser cleaning machines are divided into handheld laser cleaning machines and large desktop laser cleaning machines. Different laser cleaning machines have different functions and locations. For example, some handheld laser cleaning machines are only suitable for semiconductor equipment because the semiconductor environment requires significant environmental protection and cannot produce chemical pollutants. However, some large vessels are different, as the environment varies and there are various differences in their applicable scope. Only by choosing targeted and suitable cleaning equipment can one achieve the desired effect.