Precision sheet metal fabrication simply wouldn’t be where it is today without lasers. Laser cutting has become ubiquitous, and laser welding—both automated and manual—is rapidly growing in popularity. But lasers do more than just cut and weld. They can also clean.
Laser cleaning isn’t quite ubiquitous, but it’s gaining a foothold for applications like paint and rust removal as well as various specialty cleaning applications in aerospace, automotive, and beyond. Most laser cleaning setups use scanning optics. These move the beam at multiple meters per second to project a desired shape, such as a circle or rectangle, onto the surface.
But what is laser cleaning, really? In truth, the term covers a range of distinct processes that fall into two broad categories. One removes surface contaminants while the other “sculpts” or “textures” the surface to suit specific coating, adhesive bonding, or other application requirements. Both surface contaminant removal (referred to here as “cleaning”) and laser texturing can use similar or even identical equipment, but the two processes are distinct. Which category a manufacturer uses depends on what it needs to accomplish.
