This proposal is for the development of an innovative compact and mobile laser system to safely remove coatings from composite aircraft structures. The proposed laser based system will also be capable of preparing damaged composite surface for structural bonding. The use of lasers as a surface preparation tool for structural repair is a new, but very promising application for pulsed laser systems. The proposed laser system will be a laser Class 1 system based on proven off-the-shelf technology with very compact dimensions. This allows for small area repairs (up to 500 x 500mm) directly on deployed aircraft, such as the V-22. The laser system will have multiple control features such as color recognition, shape recognition and fume extraction. The project will be approached jointly with Concurrent Technology Corporation and Patrona Corp.
Benefit: The use of composite materials on military and commercial aircraft is greatly increasing over the last couple of years. Aircrafts like the V-22, F-35, Boeing 787 or Airbus 350 are using composite materials on large areas of the airframe and even for large structural members like the fuselage. Current field repair technologies for composites do not achieve the desired structural requirements, making such repairs a great challenge. Our proposed laser system can be used in the field to repair structural members of composite aircraft parts, addressing one of the largest current and future repair needs in the military and commercial airline industry.
Keywords: coating removal, coating removal, laser surface preparation, composite repair, color recognition, laser scarfing, structural bonding
