A Novel Laser Based Approach to Material

Identification, Corrosion Detection, and Corrosion Removal

for Space Debris Recycling
Shalika Neelaveni, Chaitanya Vankireddy, and Aditi Chintapalli

Motivation
There are over 34,000 pieces of space debris larger than 10 cm within Earth’s orbital
level. Many of these pieces of debris consist of metals such as aluminum, titanium, and silver
that have the potential to be repurposed in space. Currently, very few methods exist to properly
recycle existing space debris. A large barrier within the process of recycling these metals is the
removal of corrosion caused by the environmental impacts of space. Metals within space,
especially within the Low Earth Orbital (LEO), are exposed to atomic oxygen which poses a
serious hazard to the integrity of metals and a variety of chemical interactions. We propose a
treatment for a variety of corroded metals that involves a three step process: metal identification,
corrosion detection, and corrosion removal.

Technical Merit
In order to advance the recycling effort of space debris, we propose a three step laser
guided process which includes material identification through laser spectroscopy, corrosion
detection through laser based 3D modeling, and finally removal of corrosion with high energy
laser pulsation. In the following subsections, we will explain in detail how each step of this
process works and show a potential design mock-up that we think would be effective in
deploying these technologies.

Step 1: Material Identification Through Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy

The first step of the process is to identify the material of the space debris to inform Step 2
and Step 3 processes. Because our target is mostly smaller scale debris, the small portable set-up
of Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) will be optimal in terms of minimizing cost,
space, and energy.
Laser Component

LIBS is an atomic emission spectroscopy technique that uses a high-power laser pulse to
excite the sample and measure the concentration of the elements found in that sample.
Specifically, the laser pulse causes minimal material removal, the ablated material compresses
the surrounding atmosphere, and a shock wave is formed.1 These events cause heating, melting,
and evaporation of the material, leading to the formation of a plasma plume. The plasma
produced is dependent on three essential factors: laser wavelength, pulse duration (generally
pulse widths range from 6-15 nanoseconds
Figure 1. Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy
and repeat after 20 Hz or higher), and energy
(per unit area). Because the plasma is at an
extremely high surface temperature (typically
beyond 10,000 K) which excites electrons, it
allows the electrons to decay and emit
photons when the plasma inevitably cools.
These emitted photons have various
wavelengths that are inversely proportional to
the energy produced.2

Spectroscopy Component

A lens is placed near the plasma region to obtain photon emission data and an optical
fiber transmits this to the spectrometer. A software system can then be used to output the
spectrograph.

AI Matching & Sorting

Once a graph is obtained, it can be analyzed for it be matched to a material (eg.
aluminum, steel, etc.). Aside from the sorting of the material, this information can be used to
obtain the physical properties of the identified metal such that
Figure 2 Portable Libs Test Kit
Steps 2 and 3, which involve the removal of the corroded
layer, can be carried out autonomously and precisely. The matching
process will require a database of many spectrographs of each
material and a machine learning algorithm to ensure the system is
able to accurately recognize and match the material to its true
identity.
Current Technology

Aventes, a company specializing in small-scale

spectrometers, developed a LIBS product that combines the Falcon
Laser by Lumibird and the AvaSpec-Mini spectrometer from Aventes
for quick, portable material identification to be used in metal sorting
industries. In unstable/unpredictable environments where the
temperature varies and vibrations are produced, commercial lasers
would malfunction. However, Lumibird’s Falcon Laser is built to sustain many applications and
last several years of heavy use without maintenance. The AvaSoft software is used to easily
obtain spectrometer scans for analysis. Although this product is built for metal sorting industries,
its compact size, robust design, and ease to use make this a great candidate for applications in
material identification in the domain of space. 3

In fact, LIBS has become of much interest in the space industry. A LIBS instrument,
along with a Remote Micro-Imager, was implemented into Curiosity, the Mars Science
Laboratory rover that NASA deployed earlier in 2011. Its purpose was in elemental analysis at
large distances to determine if there could be a possibility for life in the Martian environment. 4

LIBS has proven to be a great solution for portable, efficient, and cost-effective material
identification through commercial and industrial applications. However, its inclusion in a space
mission as well provides justification for its ability to be easily integrated into the overall space
debris recycling system explained in this study.

Step 2: Corrosion Detection and Assessment Through 3D Laser Scanning

The second step of the process is to locate corroded regions and assess corrosion depth.
This will be done through 3D modeling of the space debris using triangulation of Laser scanners
and comparison of these scans to reference surfaces to assess corrosion.
Figure 3 The Process of Triangulation for an Unknown Point in 3D
Space

3D Modeling Using Triangulation Based 3D Laser

Scanners

Triangulation based 3D laser scanning is a

technique utilized to accurately and efficiently create
3D models of physical objects for a variety of
industrial purposes.
The technology employs a laser that is directed
towards an object and a camera that identifies the
location of the laser on the object’s surface. This
method is referred to as triangulation because the laser,
camera, and the laser beam on the object serve as three
points of a triangle. The distance between the laser and
the camera is a known distance and the angle of laser
emission is known. The location of the laser dot
identified by the camera allows for a second angle to
be determined in the triangle. In combination, these
three data points allow for the location of the object
relative to the laser and camera to be calculated.
 The laser is swept throughout the surface of the object and data points are compiled into
organized triangles of equal size that constitute a 3D mesh file to model the object’s surface. 5

Creation of Reference Surface for Corrosion Assessment

In order to detect the presence of corrosion on the surface of an object, deviance from a
theoretical representation of the original surface must be assessed. This theoretical representation
can be modeled in the form of a reference surface in three ways. The first method involves the
input of an original CAD model. This method proves to be infeasible as sourcing the CAD model
of each space debris collected would be a laborious and inefficient process. The second method
involves creating an approximate theoretical model in post treatment software based off of the
basic geometrical components of the model. This method, done autonomously, would yield itself
to severe inaccuracies. The third method consists of creating a reference model based off of the
free form model collected. This can be done by the application of NURBS patches on the
scanned surface or other mathematical models approximating the “best fit” geometry of the
surface. This method may be best to create the reference surface as it can be done accurately and
has been proven to be possible autonomously, although it is worth noting that doing this method
to the scale and degree of precision called for by this outlined technology would require profuse
refining of existing software technologies. 6

Corrosion can be detected from the deviance of the scanned model and the reference
model. A threshold based on depth of the deviance that indicates corrosion and inputs such as the
known density of the metal based on spectroscopy can build an accurate picture of the location,
degree, and type of corrosion.
Figure 4 Cylindrical Reference vs Virtual Pit Gauge Reference Surface.
Step 3: Corrosion Removal Through High Energy Laser Pulsation
The third step of the process is removing the corrosion and contaminants from the surface
of the space debris. This will be done through high intensity pulsation from fiber lasers with
parameters tuned to the specific properties of the space debris.
High Intensity Pulsation from Fiber Laser for corrosion/oxidation removal

Laser rust and oxide removal are effective methods to remove rust and oxide layers
formed on metal debris in space. Using a fiber laser system, rust and contaminants can be
effectively removed without damaging the material underneath. Chemical removal is the typical
method for achieving this on Earth. However, chemical removal poses challenges in space,
including the inability to dispose of/replace necessary corrosion removal chemicals.
The laser works by shooting short pulses of laser light between 100 - 500 watts which
induce micro-plasma bursts. This creates enough thermal pressure and shock to sublimate the
oxide/rust layer. The laser is able to react with corrosive regions while leaving the viable metal
underneath intact by tuning the laser’s parameters to ensure that the laser beam’s intensity is just
above that of the ablation threshold of the corrosion layer, but below the ablation threshold of the
metal underneath. The ablation threshold of a material is defined as “the critical optical energy
per area per pulse which results in film removal within the irradiated spot area”.7 This effectively
means that any laser fluence above the ablation threshold will evaporate the material and any
laser fluence below ablation level will disperse as heat. The ablation threshold is specific to
material, where corrosive material tends to have a lower ablation threshold than the original
material. This leaves a sweet spot in which the laser intensity can be tuned to be below the
ablation threshold of metal and higher than the ablation threshold of the corrosion. Therefore, the
beam will evaporate the corrosion and energy from the beam will be dispersed as heat when it
goes over a clean metal surface. The end result of this process is a corrosion free metal surface
with the layers of rust/oxide vaporized. 8 9 Figure 5 High Power Laser Rust Removal.

In our system, the corrosion removal will

be the final step in the laser recycling process. The
corrosion removal process will take material type
input from the laser spectroscopy step to tune the
intensity of the laser accordingly. From our
research we have found that the main materials in
space debris are aluminum, silver, titanium, and
iron. Through the material identification step, the
specific ablation threshold property of a material
will be found and the fiber laser will be tuned to
this value. In addition, the corrosion detection and
assessment step will be inputted to determine the depth as well as location of the corrosion. The
depth of the corrosion determines how many runs and speed the laser must make to remove
corrosive regions fully and location will help the system save energy by only localizing corrosion
removal to corroded areas of the metal rather than treating the whole surface.

Laser corrosion removal is already a proven technology and is not widely used on Earth
due to cost effectiveness of chemical solutions. However, in space where chemical solutions are
not practical, laser removal will be an effective way to recycle otherwise unusable materials.

Design Mock-up
Hypothetical design of system including 3 stage process for laser corrosion detection and
removal

We have created an initial mock-up of a system that includes the technical components
that we described above. In order to stabilize the system in a zero gravity environment, we have
devised a system of four pneumatic presses. The main reason for this stabilization method is due
to the ease of hard programming the system to deal with any shape of space debris. This will
allow the system to be automated while dealing with any shape of debris that fits within size
parameters. Each of the six sides of the cubic enclosure has a rail with laser deployment boxes.
Once again, this is to ease automation, as well as to allow full coverage of all surfaces in an
efficient manner. There are two planes of stability for the pneumatic presses. The lasers will
operate on the planes that are respectively open and switch once the pneumatic presses switch.
This ensures automation, efficiency and full coverage of any given space debris.
 First, the diagnostic laser box (blue) will run over each rail and cover the surface of the
space debris. This laser box includes both the laser and optical systems necessary for Step 1:
Material Identification Through Laser Spectroscopy and Step 2: Corrosion Detection and
Assessment. The diagnostic box will also include a chip to transmit data to processing units.
Since these steps do not change the debris and are necessary for the following step we have
lumped them into one diagnostic step for efficiency. After all data is processed by the units to the
side of the cage and the corrosion removal laser is calibrated, the corrosion removal laser boxes
(red) will go over each surface of space debris by traveling along the respective six rails. This
will complete the recycling process and once debris is released the system will return to initial
state. Our system is designed to recycle relatively smaller scale debris, so we designed the cage
dimensions to be a 6x6x6 ft cube. However, this system can be downscaled or upscaled to meet
optimal recycling needs.

Cost Effectiveness
While the upfront cost of a laser system is significantly greater than that of a chemical
corrosion removal system, the long term viability of the system, effectiveness/precision in
removing corrosion, and cataloging/identification capabilities make the laser system more cost
effective in the long run. Once the laser system is hard coded with properties and appropriate
dynamic controls, it can run over long periods of time autonomously with minimal
support/monitoring from Earth. The technology’s reliance on software allows for updates to be
deployed without manual input for the purposes of fine tuning. In addition, the ability to scan and
catalog the recycled space debris will prove to be extremely cost effective because it will allow
reuse of metals for repairs and projects, decreasing the payload of materials that must be sent to
space from Earth.

Safety
Our system is safe primarily due to the self-contained nature of our design. Once the
system is assembled and calibrated, there will be no need for manual operation. This will ensure
that there is no need for risky space missions to operate the machines. In addition, our system is
intended to be a component of a larger recycling effort. It is simply an in-between component
that will assist in identifying, cataloging, and removing corrosion in the recycling effort of space
debris. Therefore, it is meant to be attached to a larger space station/satellite and will not itself
generate any new space debris. Additionally, the process involves only lasers and the space
debris itself, without any by-products. This further ensures that our system will not contribute to
generating space debris. Possible safety concerns include the thermal viability of using lasers of
high power in a small area. While each of the lasers have been tested individually on Earth, more
testing will be required to ensure this aspect of the system’s overall safety.
Technical Maturity
Based on NASA’s Technology Readiness Level (TRL) scale, our system would fall at a
TRL rating of 6. This level indicates that all our technology has been proven to work in a
relevant ground environment but is yet to be prototyped and tested for space use. The laser
spectrometer, laser corrosion detection, and laser corrosion removal technologies that make up
our proposed system are well tested individually on the ground to do the same metal recycling
and identification tasks that we would like to employ in space. However, there is yet to be a
prototype and testing of a system which takes into account energy availability, lack of gravity,
and other conditions present in space. Since the fundamental technology is well-proven, it is
possible that a system could be tested and deployed by 2030. All the further innovation in the
technology would have to be in making it feasible for space and figuring out how it will fit into
the larger recycling effort of space debris.

Innovation
Our solution is preferable to chemical means of corrosion removal for two primary
reasons. First, there are no byproducts of the removal process and no need for replacement of the
chemicals. Second, one system can be used for removing corrosion for virtually any metal, since
it simply involves changing the parameters (intensity, runs) of the lasers. Our system will not
only clean the metals so they can be put to immediate use and repurposed in space, but also
catalog the debris. This will be useful because it will give NASA a running database of what
resources they already have in space so they can take this into consideration when planning their
future missions and repair projects in space. Cataloging the extent of corrosion can be used by
NASA to better understand the effects of space’s environment on metal and propel future
research initiatives on corrosion prevention. All in all, the system we envision combines three
functionalities into one autonomous system for space debris processing and corrosion removal in
space.
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