Laser Ablation for Removal of Chemical Agent Resistant Coatings (CARC) and Corrosion on Common Army Substrates

Author(s):

Thomas A. Considine and Alicia A. Farrell

Abstract:

U.S. Army assets require frequent repainting to repair physical damage and environmental degradation. This requires the removal of coatings, which is almost exclusively performed using hazardous chemicals or mechanical abrasion and puts personnel at increased health risk. An upcoming technology, laser ablation, can be used to mitigate these health risks while also decreasing the amount of hazardous waste generated and the cost of its removal. This technology can be used with similar or greater effectiveness to the chemical and mechanical removal means, further reducing labor costs. The goal of this research is to prove the efficacy of laser ablation on an array of commonly used armor substrates and investigate potential detrimental effects to the repaintability of the surface imparted by the energy of the laser. Successful testing performed as part of this program is used to justify revisions to Army paint specifications to allow unrestricted use of laser ablation as a cleaning method. With the restriction on the use of laser ablation lifted, Army depots will be allowed to use this cleaning method that generates less waste leading to decreased operational costs. Two depots have already switched to laser ablation, leading to an estimated $279,000 in savings per year.