Laser Removal of Aerospace Coatings - Powerlase

High power, high energy industrial lasers: The
solution to aerospace coating removal
IntAIRCOAT Conference
Dublin, 10-11 May 2017
Ioannis Metsios, PhD, CEng, PMP

Applications Development Manager
ANDRITZ Powerlase
© Powerlase Photonics Ltd 2017

Contents
1. Company introduction
2. Coatings market
3. Issues with current coating removal process
4. Possibilities
5. Solution + Data
6. The Powerlase approach
7. Conclusion
ANDRITZ Powerlase - locations
High Power, High Energy, Q-Switched DPSS lasers for industrial applications
Crawley UK, HQ & Production

Orlando USA, R&D HQ
Novi USA, Service Support

Michigan
Orlando

Company Highlights
Year Event
2000 Company founded using advanced technology developed with Imperial College London
2009 Powerlase Ltd Acquired by EO Technics Co, Ltd – Renamed as Powerlase Photonics Ltd
2011 Released Short Pulse AO10SP (1.2kW), AO16 (1.6kW) Laser systems
Production shipments of AO series to LCD production line in East Asia
2012 Released modular scalable control system – UCS

2013 New CI, website and corporate rebranding
Releases: Victory family product – Polaris i200, Procyon g1600, 80 W 355 nm laser
2014 Releases Polaris i100, Rigel u180

New Generation of high power industrial grade lasers up to 1600W
2015 Powerlase Photonics Inc Opens in Novi, Michigan Area, USA
Establishment of the Tailored Blank Ablation product
2016 Powerlase Photonics Holdings Acquires Powerlase from EO Technics, opens Florida office
Coating removal processing head demonstrator released
2017 ANDRITZ group acquires Powerlase Photonics.

First Integrated Rigel systems installed in the field.

Market evolution
Today the global aerospace

coatings market is estimated at
Global aerospace coatings market
approximately $ 2.7 Bn.
4000
3500
It is relevant to the annual number 3000
of flying passengers and thus is
Millions of USD
2500
expected to continue growing by 2000
approximately 5 to 7% annually. 1500
1000
Although the market and revenues 500
0
grow, the demand for even higher 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Year
performance, durability, low Total MRO
weight and reduced downtime is

also increasing. Data source: Aerospace Coatings Markets – Global Forecast, Markets
and Markets, April 2017

Coating removal market
The coating removal market is a Coating removal mass & cost ratios
proportion of the MRO coatings 18 120
16
market. 100
GBP cost per unit mass

14
12 80
Unit mass
10
Typically paint stripping costs are 8
60
25% of there-coat costs, excluding 6

4
40
20
labour and downtime costs which 2
0 0
are equal to those of coating. Coating mass Paint stripper mass Rinse water waste
Mass Cost per kg

Paint removal – Pragmatic
approach
Total exterior surface of a typical Market size (in Mn USD) distribution depicting
independent MRO paint strip market
commercial passenger plane:
~ 1000 m2 , typically coated with MRO strip; 371.24
~ 500kg exterior coating.

OEM; 1242.8
Total surface undergoing MRO MRO paint; 1110.76
annually estimated at 7.6x106 m2.

Thus, market size estimate is to
remove 3.8x106 tonnes of coating
annually. OEM MRO paint MRO strip
Hence the market addressable for

de-painting in 2017 is ~ $258 Mn.

Aerospace exterior coatings
challenges
• Further improvements in corrosion resistance (without Chrome)

• Longer lifetime
• Temperature gradient resistance
• UV resistance
• Reduced drag
• Cost
• Image detail reproduction and colour definition
• Fewer layers
• Less drying time
• Reduced environmental impact

Need to reduce environmental
hazards
Dichloromethane has been banned, in 2011, from most
industrial uses in the EU, as carcinogenic.
In 2017, the US Environmental Protection Agency has

proposed restrictions in commercial availability of
Dichloromethane.
Peroxide activated paint strippers reduce the health and

environmental risks but do not eradicate them.
 
Problems with other dynamic
methods
• Waterjet blasting,
• Dry ice blasting,
• Sand and polymer blasting
can erode the substrate surface reducing the lifetime of

the new coating and its corrosion protection capability.

Comparison of de-painting
methods
Favorable Moderate Unfavorable

Xenon
High pressure Plastic media
Approach è ê Diode Pumped flashlamp with Methylene
CO2 Pellet water jet or sponge
Characteristics YAG Laser Chloride
32,000 psi blasting
blasting
Special Facility
Environmental None None Yes Yes Banned
Constraints
Multi-Coating Layer
High Low Very Poor Poor Poor
Sensitivity
Adaptable to Variety
Excellent Good Moderate Poor Moderate
of Substrates
Paint Stripping Rate Moderate Moderate Very High High Moderate
Substrate Intrusion
Controllable Moderate Very High High Low
Potential
Total Waste Volume Very Low Low Very High Very High High

Pulsed lasers of interest
High average power ns pulsed lasers used in this research

2000
1800
1600
1400
Average power, W
1200 Past
1000
boundary
800
600
400
200
0
1 10 100 1000 10000
Pulse energy, mJ
Description of laser
Characteristic Powerlase i1600E
Average Power Up to 1600 W
Pulse peak power Up to 4 MW
Upgradable 800W to 1200W or 1600W
Integrated Ablation Sensor Yes
Max Abl. Speed. 70 μm layer 0.8 m2/min
Fibre length up to 60 m
User replaceable fibre Yes
Power variation <1%

Laser De-painting
Thin coat – pulse to pulse ablation
50 µm thick paint
Ablated by scanned
1064 nm beam, 650 W
De-paint rate 3.8min/m²

Laser De-painting
Thick coated - pulse to pulse ablation
350 µm thick paint

Ablated by scanned
1064 nm beam, 950 W
De-paint rate 9min/m²

Faster paint removal
Coating thickness reduction on a pulse to
pulse basis A few pulses may be
necessary to remove
some material, until the
Removed by transmitted intensity
1st pulse reaches the detachment
Removed by threshold.
Thermally 2nd pulse
affected mass
Removed by
3rd pulse
Material I0
under Ablation I0
processing It1
It1
Detachment
Faster paint removal
Advantage of higher pulse energy - Detachment
As a result, the smaller,

less energetic pulsed
beam needs more pulses
to achieve detachment.
I0
I0 It1
It1 It2
It2
Larger interaction area
= more evaporated mass
= higher interface pressure
= lower Abl. threshold
Removal rate data
White Paint + primer with 1064 nm
Nonlinear increase of semitransparent paint removal rate vs pulse
R e m o v a l ra te , m 2 /m in
energy, stable intensity

1
0.9
Semi-transparent paint removal rate vs pulse energy
0.8 1
(log scale)
Removal rate, m2/min
0.7
0.1
0.6
0.5 0.01
1 51 101 151 201 251
Pulse energy, mJ
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
1 51 101 151 201 251
Pulse energy, mJ

Area removal rate, Rigel i1600
3500
3000
2500
Yellow
+ Primer
Speed (cm2/min)
2000 White
+ Primer
Red
1500 + Primer
Green
+ Primer
1000 Primer
Green Tripple Auto-m
White
500
0
20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160
Pulse Energy, 10kHz, (mJ)

Performance with functional
layers – UV barriers
Detachment based paint removal

is compatible with UV protection
coating systems.
Latex and 2 part linear
polyurethane coatings are also
semitransparent to NIR radiation.
3500
3000
2500
Speed (cm2/min)
2000
1500
1000
500
0
20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160
Pulse Energy, 10kHz, (mJ)
White White + UV barrier

Performance with functional
layers – UV barriers
Hardeners such as cyclo-aliphatic

amines and phenols maintain or 3500
improve NIR translucency. 3000
2500
Hardened coatings, feature a
Speed (cm2/min)
2000
slightly higher detachment 1500

threshold but much steeper
1000
detachment rates due to higher
500
pressure.
0
40 60 80 100 120 140 160
Higher pulse energies are Pulse energy, 10 kHz (mJ)
recommended. White Hard White

Operation and architecture
Single point colour detection
Optics signal Sensor signal

interface interface
Closed loop
control system
Sample
Scanning field up to 10cm Laser
Optical train
Max speed 25cm/s
Up to 2.4kW average power
500um smallest spot size Beam delivery Processing Head
fibre
152 J/cm2 fluence
3GW/cm2 irradiance Vacuum
Extraction of ablation products
extractor and
Smart paint detector filtration
system

De-painting Laser
Smart hand-held tool
For easier deployment of the process
the key components and sensors can
be incorporated into a hand-held unit.
This makes the process equivalent to

what the industry uses today.
The main unit delivers to the tool:

o Laser beam
o Electrical supply and controls
o Vacuum extraction

Conclusion
Industrial high repetition rate ns pulsed lasers

are providing a commercially realistic solution
for advanced aerospace coating removals
Several aerospace and other coating systems

are in trial at the ANDRITZ Powerlase
facilities.
High pulse energy can enable a fast coating

detachment process available with most
polymer coatings on metal.

Laser Removal of Aerospace Coatings - Powerlase

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High power, high energy industrial lasers: The

solution to aerospace coating removal

Ioannis Metsios, PhD, CEng, PMP

© Powerlase Photonics Ltd 2017

3. Issues with current coating removal process

6. The Powerlase approach

Crawley UK, HQ & Production

Novi USA, Service Support

© Powerlase Photonics Ltd 2017

2012 Released modular scalable control system – UCS

2014 Releases Polaris i100, Rigel u180

2017 ANDRITZ group acquires Powerlase Photonics.

© Powerlase Photonics Ltd 2017

Today the global aerospace

expected to continue growing by 2000

approximately 5 to 7% annually. 1500

Although the market and revenues 500

weight and reduced downtime is

© Powerlase Photonics Ltd 2017

GBP cost per unit mass

25% of there-coat costs, excluding 6

Mass Cost per kg

© Powerlase Photonics Ltd 2017

~ 500kg exterior coating.

Total surface undergoing MRO MRO paint; 1110.76

annually estimated at 7.6x106 m2.

Hence the market addressable for

© Powerlase Photonics Ltd 2017

• Further improvements in corrosion resistance (without Chrome)

© Powerlase Photonics Ltd 2017

In 2017, the US Environmental Protection Agency has

Peroxide activated paint strippers reduce the health and

can erode the substrate surface reducing the lifetime of

© Powerlase Photonics Ltd 2017

Favorable Moderate Unfavorable

Paint Stripping Rate Moderate Moderate Very High High Moderate

© Powerlase Photonics Ltd 2017

High average power ns pulsed lasers used in this research

Characteristic Powerlase i1600E

Average Power Up to 1600 W

Pulse peak power Up to 4 MW

Upgradable 800W to 1200W or 1600W

Integrated Ablation Sensor Yes

Max Abl. Speed. 70 μm layer 0.8 m2/min

User replaceable fibre Yes

Power variation <1%

© Powerlase Photonics Ltd 2017

© Powerlase Photonics Ltd 2017

350 µm thick paint

© Powerlase Photonics Ltd 2017

As a result, the smaller,

energy, stable intensity

© Powerlase Photonics Ltd 2017

Pulse Energy, 10kHz, (mJ)

© Powerlase Photonics Ltd 2017

Detachment based paint removal

Pulse Energy, 10kHz, (mJ)

White White + UV barrier

Hardeners such as cyclo-aliphatic

improve NIR translucency. 3000

Hardened coatings, feature a

slightly higher detachment 1500

Higher pulse energies are Pulse energy, 10 kHz (mJ)