Ablation of a chlorinated rubber polymer and TiO ceramic 2 mixture with a Nd:YAG laser

In this paper, we report the ablation of a polymer–ceramic mixture consisting of chlorinated rubber CR.and TiO2 via a free running, pulsed Nd:YAG laser system. Layers of various thickness have been removed under an oxygen process gas using various pulse lengths and output powers. The ablation process has been analysed via high-speed photography and ablation plume spectroscopy. The removal quality dependence on laser parameters is assessed and discussed and the relevance of the results is put into perspective regarding the removal of paint layers from surfaces. q2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.