Author(s)

Angel Eduardo Villarreal-Villela, L. Ponce Cabrera

Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Centro de Investigación en Ciencia Aplicada y Tecnología Avanzada Unidad Altamira, Altamira, México.

The spectrum analysis obtained by Fast Fourier Transform of the Photoacoustic In-duced by Laser Ablation (PILA) during laser assisted paints removal process is de-scribed, in order to identify the presence of paint components on a metallic surface, optimize the ablation rate and propose the method as a cleaning process monitoring. The process was carried out using a low-cost experimental setup which includes a burst-mode Nd:YAG laser, an electret microphone, an audio amplifier device and an oscilloscope, to record the acoustic pulse and analyze it. The samples surface mor-phology was characterized by Optical Microscopy and Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) before and after irradiation to visualize the formation of craters. As additional monitoring technique, the Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) was used. The potential of the analysis for qualitative monitoring of coating removal was demonstrated due to the coincidence of the information provided by LIBS and PILA techniques.

Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy, Pulsed Laser, Nd:YAG, Acousto-Optical Signal Processing

Villarreal-Villela, A. and Cabrera, L. (2016) Monitoring the Laser Ablation Process of Paint Layers by PILA Technique. Open Journal of Applied Sciences, 6, 626-635. doi: 10.4236/ojapps.2016.69060.