Portable High-Energy Semicoductor Diode Lasers for Interior Ship Coatings Removal

The objective of this SBIR is to investigate and develop a portable laser decoating system that has the capability to remove coatings used in the construction of Navy ships. Corrosion control is a major issue in new ship construction as well as in shiprepair where significant amount of time is spent in applying and removing paint from the interior of ships for spot decoating. This includes the regular removal of a significant amount of preconstruction primer, and interior epoxy coatings.The present methods of abrasive blasting generates additional waste but more significant is that entire spaces must be masked off for blasting not allowing other trades to operate in or around the space until the operation is completed. A portable,high power, diode laser would be capable of allowing the surface finishing trades to spend minimal time in a space spot decoating, allowing the other trades to start sooner, thus avoiding costly delays in construction. Diode laser decoating has been provento efficiently remove new coatings such as powder coats being used in shipbuilding, as well as being able to efficiently remove coatings from PCMS, composite, fiberglass, and other