How to choose the right laser cleaning machine for metal rust removal？

It is inevitable that metal will rust. This is a chemical reaction, which is essentially the oxidation of metal. The most common rust phenomenon is that iron products are exposed to air and oxygen for a long time and oxidize, or are corroded by oxygen in water and become oxides. But to continue using the machine, it is necessary to remove the rust on the metal surface. The laser cleaning machine has opened up a new generation of metal rust removal work, which is of great help to this industry. The laser cleaning machine has advantages that traditional cleaning does not have, and is gradually replacing traditional cleaning methods.

Why use a fiber laser cleaning machine?

1. Environmentally friendly cleaning: No chemical agents are used, and the cleaning waste is solid harmless powder, which can completely solve the environmental pollution problem caused by chemical cleaning.

2. Low-cost cleaning: Although the initial investment cost of the laser cleaning system is high, it can be used stably for a long time, has a long service life, and has low operating costs. Fast, efficient, time-saving, and can quickly get a return, suitable for long-term work, and the cost is lower than traditional cleaning methods.

3. Precise and accurate cleaning: The fiber laser cleaning machine is suitable for cleaning various dirt/paint/oil/oxidation layers on the surface of metal or equipment. Compared with traditional chemical cleaning, laser cleaning is selective.

4. Little damage to the metal surface and almost no damage to the substrate.

How to choose the most suitable fiber laser cleaning machine for rust removal?

1. Two laser generators to choose from

There are two main types of mainstream laser cleaning machines at present, one is pulse laser cleaning machine and the other is continuous laser cleaning machine.

After cleaning the dirt, the pulse laser cleaning machine can achieve zero damage to the substrate, which is suitable for cleaning products with high requirements on the substrate surface; Continuous laser cleaning has high efficiency and is suitable for large-area cleaning, such as steel plate rust removal, paint removal, shipyard rust removal, etc.

2. The difference between the two laser generators

When the pulse laser cleans the paint on the metal surface, the paint layer on the sample surface is completely removed, the sample surface appears metallic white, and there is almost no damage to the sample substrate. When using a continuous laser to clean the paint on the metal surface, the paint layer on the sample surface is also completely removed, but the sample surface appears gray-black, and the sample substrate also shows a micro-melting phenomenon. Therefore, the pulse laser cleaning machine causes less damage to the substrate than the continuous laser.

Experiments show that both continuous laser and pulse laser can remove pollutants on the surface of the material to achieve a cleaning effect. At the same power, the pulse laser cleaning machine has a better cleaning effect than the continuous laser cleaning machine. At the same time, pulsed lasers can better control heat input and prevent overheating or micro-melting of the substrate.

3. How to choose between the two lasers?

In fact, continuous lasers are much cheaper than pulsed laser cleaners. In order to make up for the efficiency gap with pulsed lasers, continuous laser cleaning machines use high-power lasers, but high-power continuous light has greater heat input and increases the degree of damage to the substrate. Therefore, the two are essentially different in application scenarios. For application scenarios with high precision requirements, strict control of substrate temperature rise, and no damage to the substrate, such as molds, it is recommended to choose pulsed lasers. For some large steel structures, pipelines, etc., due to their large size and fast heat dissipation, the requirements for substrate damage are not high, so a continuous laser cleaning machine can be selected.

SAN LASER has been engaged in fiber laser cleaning machines for many years. For high-precision cleaning work, there are 100W-1000W pulse (mopa) laser cleaning machines available. In addition, there are 1000W to 3000W continuous machines available. The higher the power, the stronger the laser. You can choose according to the thickness of the rust layer. If you don’t know which one to choose, you can contact the SAN LASER team to find out.

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