AEROSPACE
“Laser cleaning of metal and composite aircraft components is more advantageous than chemical stripping or blasting techniques”
As much of 50% of an Airbus A350X body can now be made from carbon fibre-reinforced polymer (CFRP), which lasers are particularly suited to processing
with traditional methods, with several manufacturers now considering and even beginning to adopt laser welding for producing fuselage parts.
Laser cleaning for aerospace manufacturing Manufacturers in the aerospace sector use laser cleaning to remove layers from the surfaces of metals and composites in order to prepare them for processing, to remove coatings or corrosion, and to strip paint off large components or entire aircraft before repainting them. In the cleaning process,
the laser ablates the surface material by being absorbed by the surface layer and vaporising it while having little effect on the material beneath and creating no collateral heat damage to the component. Pulsed fibre lasers in the kilowatt range are particularly suitable for fast laser cleaning – they can carry out the process with high levels of efficiency and precision on a wide range of materials including ceramics, composites, metals and plastics. In recent years, the amount
of composites used in aircraft has increased, and as a consequence so has the need for joining metals to composites. In aerospace manufacturing, adhesives can be used to join these two dissimilar materials, and in order to create strong bonds both surfaces must be carefully prepared before
the adhesive is applied. Laser cleaning is ideal for this as it can create a very tightly controlled and reproducible surface landscape that allows for consistent and predictable bonding. Traditionally, this would be done via aggressive blasting techniques or several applications of chemicals. However, laser cleaning now offers a one-step approach that is not only more cost-effective and productive, but also has less impact on the environment, since no toxic chemicals or blasting materials are required. Laser cleaning is also much gentler on the component than such traditional methods. When it comes to paint stripping, laser cleaning of metal and composite aircraft components is also more advantageous than chemical stripping or blasting techniques. Over its operational lifetime, an aircraft is likely to be repainted four or five times, and it can take a week or more to remove the paint from an entire aircraft using conventional techniques. By contrast, laser cleaning drops this to three or four days depending on the aircraft’s size. It also allows workers to reach parts more easily. In addition, when used for paint removal instead of chemical stripping or blasting, laser cleaning offers substantial cost savings – amounting to thousands of pounds for each aircraft since
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the hazardous waste is reduced by approximately 90% or more, bringing down material disposal requirements.
Laser peening Stress within metal components can lead to metal fatigue failure in aircraft parts such as the fan blades of jet engines, which has the potential to cause damage or injury. This can be mitigated via a technique known as laser peening. In this process, laser pulses
are directed at an area of high stress concentration and each pulse ignites a tiny plasma explosion between the component’s surface and a water layer that has been sprayed on top. The water layer confines the explosion, which results in a shock wave that penetrates into the component and creates
compressive residual stresses when it expands the region through which it travels. These stresses counteract cracking and other forms of metal fatigue. Compared with traditional processes, laser peening extends the service lifetimes of metal parts by 10-15 times. Laser peening is seeing
increasing adoption in the aerospace industry. For example, LSP Technologies and Airbus have together developed a portable laser peening system, which recently underwent testing and evaluation at Airbus’ maintenance and repair facilities in Toulouse, France. The Leopard Peening System will be used to extend fatigue life by inhibiting crack initiation and propagation caused by cyclic vibrational stresses. The flexibility of the fibre optic beam delivery and custom tools enables the system to laser peen hard-to-reach areas of an aircraft. According to the partners, the system is a breakthrough in laser peening technology that will advance its use – originally proven to extend the life of jet engine blades – to
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Lasers are being increasingly used to drill holes in CFRP aircraft components THE 2023 GUIDE TO LASER SYSTEMS LASER SYSTEMS EUROPE 11
Shutterstock/Chittapon Kaewkiriya
Laser Zentrum Hannover
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