Application of Laser Cleaning Machine in the Field of Rail Rust Removal

As the infrastructure of rail transit, rail transit, such as the subway and railway system, are very important modes of transportation, which play very important roles in people's travel, economic cargo transportation and national material allocation. However, rail pipes, rail, parts on the rust problem has plagued rail management and traffic operations for a long time. Traditional rust cleaning methods often require a lot of manpower and time, and the effect is not ideal. In order to better solve the problem, laser rust removal has been widely used in the field of railway system rust removal.

Surface wear, rust, deformation, cracks and so on are common problems of rail. The iron on the rail surface reacts with oxygen and water in the air to form special oxides, such as one of our most common brownish-red Fe₂O₃. These oxides will reduce the strength of the rail, and if not removed in time, these substances will further accelerate the oxidative corrosion of the rail. In addition, it is also necessary to remove rust before rail crack welding and other operations.

The commonly used methods for removing rust can be divided into physical methods and chemical methods. The physical method is mainly to remove the rust by grinding, such as sanding with sandpaper, grinding wheel, steel wire brush, steel wire ball, etc. The chemical method mainly uses acid to react with rust, so as to achieve the purpose of rust removal.

Traditional rail rust removal methods currently have some limitations:

1 Grinding method is low efficiency, high labor cost.

2 The rail is not a large area plane, the working space is limited in some places, the corner is 3 rough and not thorough, the effect is poor.

3 The use of tools such as grinding wheels is easy to cause injury to operators.

4 Pickling should pay attention to choose the appropriate acid concentration to avoid deep corrosion of the rail.

5 To control the amount, so as to avoid damage to the environment.

6 Acid liquid and volatile acid mist, harm to the human body, operators must do a good job of protection.

Laser Rust Removal is a new type of rail system rust removal method. The working principle is that:Focus laser beam on the metal surface of the rust layer, then the laser and metal surface  react with each other, producing high temperature and high energy. So that the rust layer instantaneously heat up and expand, and finally fall off from the metal surface. Compared with traditional chemical corrosion and mechanical cleaning, laser rust removal does not produce secondary pollution, can efficiently and thoroughly remove rust, but also to achieve accurate, efficient, controllable cleaning operation.

In response to this demand, USILAND has developed the Raptor series of laser cleaning machines .Raptor Laser cleaning device are new generation of high-tech surface treatment products that are easy to install, operate and automate. They are simple to operate：link power supply, turn on the equipment, then you can carry out removing rust without chemical reagents, media, dust, water. It can fit the curving surface cleaning, and is efficient. Laser cleaning devices can remove the resin, paint, oil, stains, dirt, rust, coating, coating and oxide layer on the surface, and are widely used, include rail, shipbuilding, auto repair, rubber molds, machines and environmental protection.They will bring better solutions for a series of problems in rail maintenance.

For example: Raptor 200

1 Non-contact work, does no damage the parts matrix.

2 Precise cleaning, can achieve precise position, precise size cleaning.

3 Does not need any chemical cleaning solution, no consumables, safe and environmental friendly.

4 Simple to operate, can be hand-held and can achieve automatic cleaning with the robot.

5 Ergonomic design, operation labor intensity is greatly reduced.

6 High cleaning efficiency, saving time.

7 Laser cleaning system is stable, almost need no maintenance.

8 Can be used with portable battery.