Corrosion and wear performance of aircraft skin after laser cleaning

Abstract

This paper studies the laser paint stripping technology of the Boeing series of aircraft skins, which provides a reference for improving the efficiency of paint stripping and reducing the maintenance cost of existing aircraft skins. The paint stripping effect of the aircraft skin at a laser energy density of 2–6 J/cm2 was studied. The best cleaning parameter was 5 J/cm2 by SEM and EDS analysis. Aircraft have almost strict needs for safety, so if laser paint stripping technology uses widely in aircraft maintenance, nondestructive cleaning must achieve. The fretting friction and wear performance of aircraft skin rivet holes after laser paint stripping with different energy densities was studied, the friction and wear performance of other parts of the skin were studied and compared with mechanical grinding and laser paint stripping. The results showed that the laser did not reduce the friction and wear performance of any part of the aircraft's skin surface. The residual stress, micro-hardness, and corrosion performance of the aircraft skin surface after laser paint stripping were studied. Compared with the mechanical lapping and laser paint stripping method, it proves the laser will not reduce the hardness and corrosion resistance of the aircraft skin. However, after laser cleaning, the surface of the aircraft skin will produce some plastic deformation, which is the problem that the engineering department needs to pay attention to at present.